We have a new series here at Eyes On The Prize! Each week, I’ll be selecting three stars from the Habs and one player from the Laval Rocket. A new staple in your Monday morning routine.

The Montreal Canadiens went 2-2-0 in the first week of December, now sitting at 15-10-3 on the season and third in the Atlantic Division. It was a week of ups and downs, featuring a resilient, if imperfect, performance against the Maple Leafs that saw the Canadiens snap an 11-game losing streak at Scotiabank Arena, and then a loss versus the St. Louis Blues that featured some costly errors.

Montreal Canadiens’ Three Stars

As much as it was an inconsistent week for the Habs, individuals shone brighter than the team as a whole. Whether you see that as a positive or negative is another matter.

Third Star: Ivan Demidov (4GP | 0G 3A 3P)

After head coach Martin St-Louis put the criticisms of Demidov’s ice time (just over 14 minutes a night coming into this week’s matches) solely on his own shoulders, stating on December 2, “Sometimes I look at the game sheet and think, ‘Jeez, he only played this many minutes.’ I have him on the bench sometimes. I have to do a better job to give him a little bit more.”

Marty was true to his word. Demidov averaged 17:47 over his four games this week, capped off by a career-high 19:29 in Wednesday’s shootout victory against Winnipeg. This week, we saw Demidov return to his (rightful) spot on the first-unit power play, and the man advantage profited, going four-for-10 over four games. In fact, four of the eight goals the Canadiens scored this week were created by the unit featuring Demidov. He was on the ice for six of the eight goals the Canadiens scored last week. Not bad.

Second Star: Cole Caufield (4GP | 2G 3A 5P)

Cole Caufield is blossoming into a legitimate star player in the NHL. It’s like his vision of the ice has expanded in the last three weeks; he’s skating with confidence and owning open ice. He’s always been a player that the pucks seems to find, but we’re seeing him start to master the ability to see where the puck is going to be.

Caufield was the Canadiens’ offensive catalyst this week, picking up a point on five of the eight goals, and scoring on his attempts in both of the Canadiens’ shootout victories. You don’t need me to tell you that this is star behaviour. We also saw Caufield engage physically all week. He totalled three hits against the Leafs on Saturday and had two more versus the Blues last night.

First Star: Juraj Slafkovský (4GP: 2G 1A 3P)

I understand that Slafkovsky’s numbers aren’t as good as Caufields’s (he also went -3 this week, for those of you gearing up for criticism. But this list is ‘stars of the week,’ and Slafkovsky was that for the team. Aside from his current love affair with the penalty box, he was a dominant two-way force.

He wasn’t perfect. There were a few too many offensive-zone turnovers, and he was scrambly at times. But the rest of his game was undeniable. He chased down every turnover, being the Canadiens’ best backchecking forward, and it wasn’t close.

He led Canadiens forwards in ice time, averaging 21:15 a night and for good reason. With Suzuki clearly still operating at less than 100%, Slafkovský was arguably the most important forward on the Montreal Canadiens this week, and in my opinion, deserving of the first star.

Laval Rocket player of the week

Jacob Fowler (3GP | 2-1-0, .936 Sv%, 1.42 GAA)

The most obvious choice of the week, Jacob Fowler played in all three of Laval’s games this week – including back-to-back bouts against the Belleville Senators after Kaapo Kähkönen was chased from the crease after allowing three goals in just 11 minutes of play. Fowler allowed just four goals through his three games and was dominant in the crease.

Adam Engström made his case for this honour, but he played in just two games, only being relegated by Montreal on Wednesday.

Next week

The Habs will play four games this week, two at home and two on the road, with the main challenge being the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The week finishes with the Blue-Blanc-Rouge taking on the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night.