November wasn’t a great month for the Habs as they could only muster up four victories out of their 12 games. Despite that, some individual players still had strong months, earning enough votes from our readers to be among the three stars.
1st Star: Brendan Gallagher
Even though Gallagher finished off last season strong, expectations weren’t overly high for him heading into this season. As someone who was earmarked for a bottom-six role, few were expecting him to be a leading offensive contributor. He was just that last month, finishing third on the team in scoring despite being ninth among ice time for forwards. Notably, how he scored is something that’s a bit more sustainable, getting tips and rebounds, which should provide some reason for optimism as the season moves on.
Stats: 12 GP, 4 goals, 4 assists, 8 points, -1 rating, 9 PIMS, 17 shots, 17 hits, 13:59 TOI
2nd Star: Cole Caufield
Caufield actually was on the highest percentage of ballots this month but Gallagher had more first-place votes to give him the edge. Not surprisingly, it was a bit of a quieter month for him compared to October but that shouldn’t be that surprising. Encouragingly, Caufield showed more of an all-around game compared to the opening month when he was a trigger man and not a whole lot more. For the top line to be as effective as it showed it can be last season, they need Caufield to be the all-around offensive threat so his performance was a nice step in the right direction.
Stats: 12 GP, 4 goals, 5 assists, 9 points, -4 rating, 2 PIMS, 26 shots, 17:27 TOI
3rd Star: Jake Evans
While Evans hasn’t been able to produce consistently over the years, he has taken a step in that direction this season and that carried over from October to November. With the struggles from Kirby Dach and Christian Dvorak, Evans often played higher in the lineup than he’s typically accustomed to (or, frankly, higher than he probably should be playing) and to his credit, his line created a bit of offence while he played his usual sound defensive game. It’s a contract year for Evans and he’s off to a nice start, pushing his likely price tag next summer to a number that’s going to be higher than a lot of people think.
Stats: 12 GP, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points, -1 rating, 2 PIMS, 8 shots, 47.5% faceoffs, 16:17 TOI
Honourable Mention: Nick Suzuki
Suzuki tied for the points lead with Caufield last month, technically taking the top spot thanks to his goal total and yet he didn’t garner a lot of consideration in the voting. That’s a sign that the baseline expectations are quite high for the captain where leading the way offensively is merely a sign of doing his job rather than standing out. (I think this is a good thing, not a bad thing, by the way.) While his line’s offence dipped during the month, it played better overall on a shift-to-shift basis which is a good step but many feel there’s more to come from him still.
Stats: 12 GP, 5 goals, 4 assists, 9 points, even rating, 2 PIMS, 22 shots, 46% faceoffs, 19:56 TOI
