While the Montreal Canadiens were suffering a fourth straight defeat, one of their former players was reaching an important milestone. Jeff Petry, who spent eight of his 16-season-long career in Montreal, skated in his 1,000th game with the Florida Panthers.

The Habs first acquired Petry at the trade deadline in 2015 for a second-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick at the 2015 draft. He could have been a rental player, but after putting up seven points in 19 games, he was signed to a six-year contract extension with a $5.5 million cap hit and became a significant part of the Sainte-Flanelle’s blueline. From 16 points in his first complete season in Montreal, he became a steady 40-plus points producer in the last four years of the contract. His performance prompted then-GM Marc Bergevin to sign him to a four-year contract extension with a $6.250 million cap hit in September 2020.

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Whichever way you look at it, the Canadiens were lucky to have Petry during the Shea Weber years. Acquired to be the team’s top blueliner, Weber missed a lot of time due to injury, and when he was on the sidelines, Petry consistently stepped up to fill the void. In 508 games with the Habs, he put up 248 points.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 outbreak derailed Petry’s career with the Canadiens. A family man, Petry became a shadow of himself when his wife and three boys stayed behind in the USA for the season because of the restrictions. It prompted him to request a trade to an American team despite having recently signed a contract extension.

In their eight years in town, the Petry family left their mark on the organization. Not only because of the defenseman’s play, but because his wife Julie started a clothing label with goaltender Carey Price’s wife Angela. The Line Change label began as a Canadiens-only label but quickly expanded to other teams, and it’s now teaming up with Jessica Campbell, the first female assistant coach to have a role behind an NHL team’s bench.

The family’s eldest son, Boyd, also became something of an internet sensation in Montreal through the team’s social media, shooting many videos of the youngsters behind the scenes while he watched his dad play.

When Kent Hughes finally found a trading partner for the right-shot defenseman, he landed Mike Matheson from the Pittsburgh Penguins, a player who has played a significant role in the Sainte-Flanelle’s rebuild. The Canadiens’ GM had to throw in Ryan Poehling in the trade, and he received a 2023 fourth-round pick as well in what turned out to be a fantastic trade for the Habs. To this day, Matheson is a significant cog in the Canadiens’ defence, while Petry’s stay in Pittsburgh only lasted 61 games.

Just over a year later, the Canadiens reacquired the defenseman in a three-way trade. Still, Hughes promptly traded him again, this time to the Detroit Red Wings, a team he grew up watching as an Ann Arbour, Michigan native whose dad played for the Detroit Tigers in the MLB. The way Hughes handled the delicate Petry was no doubt noted by players around the league, as it showed just how respectful the GM was of his players.

Petry would end up playing in Detroit for two seasons before signing a one-year deal at a league-minimum $775,000 with the Panthers in the hope of winning a Stanley Cup before retiring. While things haven’t gone according to plan so far for the double-reigning Champions, with injuries to Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, they are far from out of the playoff race. In 1,000 games, the defenseman has put up 390 points, meaning that 64% of his offensive production came while wearing the Sainte-Flanelle.

The Panthers honoured Petry for his milestone in a pregame ceremony, where he received the traditional silver stick and added a personal touch by having his sons announce the starting lineup in the dressing room.

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The Philadelphia Flyers have a number of their top prospects knocking on the door for an NHL role, but if those players do get called up, the team cannot continue to make the same mistakes repeatedly as they have been.

Rookie Nikita Grebenkin has hardly gotten a fair shake since the season started, franchise player Matvei Michkov is playing significantly less than last year, and it took the Flyers nearly a month to install defenseman Emil Andrae as a regular in the lineup.

While defenseman Adam Ginning, who has played just once since Oct. 16, is likely the first to go to make a roster spot for a prospect, the Flyers need to do it with a purpose.

Anthony SanFilippo of On Pattison recently reported that the Flyers might be "ready to give [Alex Bump] a look, but they don't want him stuck playing on the fourth line. The Flyers brass believes when Bump comes up, he has to play in the top nine."

In translation, that means more than 12 minutes a night, and not playing with Rodrigo Abols and Garnet Hathaway.

But the same, obviously, hasn't been true for Grebenkin and Michkov, who have both had to do that this season at some point.

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Bump, 21, has four goals, nine assists, and 13 points in 15 games with the AHL Lehigh Valley Phantoms, with 11 of those points coming in his last 10 games.

The offense is finally coming after an unimpressive preseason, and the Flyers, who rank seventh-worst in the NHL in goals scored, could certainly use that.

This is simply a matter of how, but head coach Rick Tocchet and Co. have not yet shown a willingness to lean into the youth, bar the Noah Cates line and newcomer Trevor Zegras.

Adding a young Bump to the equation only further muddies matters, as the Flyers would then have to organize a group of top-nine wingers that includes him, Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Owen Tippett, Travis Konecny, Zegras, if he stays on the wing, and potentially Grebenkin, too.

Such a move would effectively force Zegras and Christian Dvorak to stay down the middle permanently, which can, and arguably should be, the plan for Tocchet, but that remains to be seen.

Tocchet has basked in the versatility those two bring to the table, and it would be hard to imagine he softens his stance on that to make way for a 21-year-old winger.

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Nonetheless, the Flyers absolutely should be leaning into youth and more traditional rebuilding practices while it is convenient for them, rather than seeing what developments come about and winging it from there - no pun intended.

Plus, Porter Martone could be in the conversation as soon as this spring. The Flyers ought to see which pieces fit into Tocchet's "puzzle" and which ones do not, and sometimes, you have to build the frame first and turn it every which way to find your next move.

After losing three games in a row at home, the Montreal Canadiens were hoping to get back to their winning ways with a game on the road against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was never going to be an easy task, though, with the injury bug going around the Habs’ dressing room these days. Without Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach, Martin St-Louis had to switch his lines and was hoping to spark some production in doing so.

Unfortunately for the bench boss, things didn’t go according to plan, and the Habs had to come back to Montreal with a four-game losing streak. This 4-3 shootout defeat and the point it earns keep the Canadiens in the playoff picture.

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New Lines Take Time

Chemistry doesn’t happen overnight, or even instantly, and it was painfully evident in Monday night’s tilt. For the first time this season, Zachary Bolduc was deployed alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the top line. The unit had one of the best scoring chances of the first frame when Bolduc skated up the wing and cut towards the net, but with the blueliner blocking his way, he ended up going around the net, but not without getting Jet Reaves deported to one side. A quick thinker, Bolduc opted for a backhand pass to Suzuki, but the captain didn’t see it coming and wasn’t ready for the pass.

The Habs’ newly formed second line featured Juraj Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov. While it wasn’t easy for them match-up-wise early on, as they were facing the Jackets’ top line, they still managed to score the Habs’ first goal by creating a lot of movement and defensive coverage mayhem. Four Canadiens players touched the puck as they built up Kapanen’s seventh goal of the season.

As for Jake Evans and Josh Anderson, they were paired up with Joshua Roy, who had a roller-coaster of a night. On the Jacket’s second goal, Roy had the puck right on his stick in front, but missed his opportunity to clear, and Adam Fantilli made him pay. Later in the third frame, his presence helped create mayhem in front of Greaves’ net, allowing Anderson to cut the lead in half.

Deep into the third frame and down by one, St-Louis couldn’t resist the urge to go back to familiar combinations with Slafkovsky joining Caufield and Suzuki and Gallagher joining Anderson and Jake Evans.

A tough Outing For Dobson

Since joining the Canadiens at the last draft, Noah Dobson has been very good for the Habs, but on Monday night, it was harder. While he’s fantastic offensively, there are times when it can be trickier in his own zone, and it was the case tonight.

His play reading wasn’t the best tonight, and as a veteran, that shouldn’t happen. On Zach Werensky’s goal, instead of closing down the dangerous blueliner, he just skated backwards, giving him all the time and space in the world to pick his spot, a recipe for disaster.

In overtime, he had an opportunity to complete the comeback win for the Canadiens after being put through on his own in front of Greaves by Caufield, but he couldn’t get the puck past him, and the game went on.

Hutson Bounced Back

Meanwhile, Lane Hutson had his best game in quite some time. He spent over 25 minutes on the ice, put up a goal and an assist, took five shots, landed two hits and blocked one shot. While Hutson doesn’t have the best shot in the league, he needs to trust himself more and take some shots; even if they don’t go in, they can lead to rebounds.

He finished the game with a highly deserved plus-two rating, and this is the type of game that could do wonders for the sophomore defender. His game-tying goal with less than a minute 20 left in the game allowed the Habs to collect a precious point.

After being visibly upset by the overtime loss against the New Jersey Devils on November 6, Jakub Dobes was livid after giving a shootout goal to Kiril Marchenko. He partly stopped the puck, but it trickled in, and the young netminder broke his stick on the way to the dressing room.

The Canadiens will now head back home, where they’ll host Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Thursday at 7:00 PM.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

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