Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Generates late assist in loss
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Matheson had an assist, four shots on net and one block in Tuesday's 8-2 loss to the Kraken.
Matheson entered the zone and found Josh Anderson behind a defender for Montreal's second goal. It was the ninth helper on the season for Matheson, who has points in five consecutive games.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Grabs power-play helper in win
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Matheson notched a power-play assist, two shots on goal and seven blocked shots in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Flyers.
Matheson has earned five assists during a four-game point streak, and all but one of those helpers has come with the man advantage. The 30-year-old defenseman is doing well to stave off Lane Hutson for a spot on the first power-play unit. Matheson is up to eight assists (five on the power play), 10 shots on net, 27 blocked shots, 23 PIM and a minus-1 rating through nine contests this season.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Point streak at three games
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Matheson had two assists, including one on the power play, two blocks and two PIM in Saturday's 5-2 win over St. Louis.
Matheson picked up secondary helpers on Kirby Dach's 5-on-5 tally and Alex Newhook's power-player marker. It was the third consecutive game with at least one point for Matheson, who has seven assists (four on power play) over eight games.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Racks up PIM in loss
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Matheson had a power-play assist, a blocked shot and 19 PIM in Tuesday's 7-2 loss to the Rangers.
Matheson recorded his fifth assist of the season and third on the power play before getting whistled for his role in a melee. He jumped in after New York's Jacob Trouba delivered a high hit on Justin Barron. Matheson got two minutes for instigation, five for fighting and 10 for misconduct. He also received a two-minute minor for roughing in a separate incident earlier in the game.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: No worse for wear
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Matheson logged a power-play assist, five blocked shots and two hits in Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss to the Islanders.
Matheson left Thursday's game versus the Kings due to an upper-body injury, but he didn't miss action. He led the Canadiens with 28:10 of ice time Saturday, proving he's no worse for wear after the injury scare. The 30-year-old blueliner has chipped in four assists, seven shots on net, 17 blocked shots and a minus-2 rating over six contests while serving as the Canadiens' top overall defenseman.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: In lineup Saturday
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Matheson (upper body) is good to play Saturday versus the Islanders, per Guillaume Lefrancois of La Presse.
Matheson won't miss additional action after leaving Thursday's 4-1 loss to the Kings. He has three assists, one hit and 12 blocks through five appearances in 2024-25. Matheson is projected to serve on the top pairing alongside Justin Barron on Saturday.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Traveling to Long Island
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Matheson (upper body) will join the team on the road for Saturday's matchup with the Islanders, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports.
Matheson is off to a strong start to the 2024-25 campaign with three assists in five appearances to go with six shots, 12 blocks and one hit. With Kaiden Guhle (upper body) already ruled out, the Habs will have to insert either Logan Mailloux or Jayden Struble into the lineup and may have to utilize both if Matheson is also sidelined.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Leaves Thursday's game
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Matheson (upper body) won't return to Thursday's game versus the Kings.
Matheson's potential absence looms large over an inexperienced Montreal blue line. The 30-year-old defenseman didn't play after the first period of Thursday's game. If he can't suit up Saturday on the road versus the Islanders, Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle figure to take on larger roles while Jayden Struble would be the leading candidate to enter the lineup.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Two assists in loss
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Matheson had a power-play assist and an even-strength helper in Monday's 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh. He added two shots on net and three blocked shots.
Matheson had the primary assist on Kaiden Guhle's goal in the first period then was the secondary helper on Juraj Slafkovsky's power-play marker early in the second period. Matheson has three assists over the last two games. He's been the Canadiens' top defenseman, averaging 25:49 of ice time per contest this season.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Records first point
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Matheson had an assist, two shots on goal and one blocked shot in Saturday's 4-1 win over the Senators.
Matheson picked up the primary assist on Cole Caufield's first-period marker. It was the first point of the season for Matheson, who had a career-high 62 points in 2023-24, ranking ninth among defensemen.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Works with coach on PP
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Matheson worked with head coach Martin St. Louis on a whiteboard following Tuesday's practice, going over situations and how the club's top power-play unit should adapt to those situations, Arpon Basu of The Athletic reports.
Matheson is once again expected to quarterback the Canadiens' top power-play unit and is coming off a career year in 2023-24, during which he finished eighth among defensemen with a career-high 28 power-play points. The Habs need to improve in this area -- Montreal ranked 27th in efficiency last season -- and the club was abysmal during the preseason, going 0-for-30 with the man advantage. The 30-year-old blueliner may eventually look over his shoulder at rookie Lane Hutson, who will quarterback the second power-play unit, but Matheson will be the dominant defenseman on that special-teams group to start the 2024-25 season.
Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Point streak to six games
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Matheson logged an assist, three blocks and one hit in Thursday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Islanders.
Matheson continued a remarkable stretch during which he's distributing at an elite level. The defenseman has nine assists during a six-game point streak and 12 helpers over the last eight contests. His career-high 50 assists ranks ninth in the NHL among blueliners.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Slides two assists in loss
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Matheson had two assists -- one on the power play -- three shots on net, three blocks and one hit in Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Matheson was the secondary helper on Nick Suzuki's power-play strike, then was the main assistant on Cole Caufield's even-strength tally. The defenseman ran his assist streak to three games and is within shouting distance of 60 points, needing five over the final six games.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Two more helpers Sunday
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Matheson notched two assists and five blocked shots in Sunday's 5-2 loss to the Rangers.
Matheson has been distributing helpers at a high rate lately, logging nine assists over his last six contests. The 30-year-old defenseman is up to 57 points, 179 shots on net, 171 blocked shots, 58 PIM and a minus-27 rating through 77 appearances. It's by far the best year of his career, which has been fueled by earning 27 of those points on the power play in his first year quarterbacking the first unit on a full-time basis.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Collects power-play assist
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Matheson had a power-play assist, three shots on net and three blocks in Tuesday's 5-3 win over Florida.
Matheson's shot was tipped in by Nick Suzuki for Montreal's third goal. Matheson has five points over the last five games and is up to 52 points, marking the first 50-point season of his career.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Pots shorty
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Matheson scored a shorthanded goal and posted a plus-5 rating during Sunday's 5-1 win over the Kraken.
The goal is Matheson's 10th of the campaign and his first point in five games. Matheson has 48 points in 70 games, and he has seen ice time in excess of 28 minutes in multiple recent contests, but his ceiling is capped playing for a Montreal team that averages just 2.71 goals per game -- the fifth-worst mark in the league.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Sets up power-play strike
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Matheson had a power-play assist, two shots on net and two blocks in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Columbus.
Matheson was the primary assistant on Juraj Slafkovsky's power-play strike at the 3:15 mark of the first period. It was Matheson's second consecutive game with a power-play assist and his 19th of the season with the man-advantage unit. Matheson is cruising toward his first 50-point season -- he needs just three points over the season's final 17 games to reach that mark.
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Canadiens' Mike Matheson: Nifty goal for impressive defender
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Matheson scored a goal and added an assist in a 3-2 loss to Toronto on Saturday.
The goal was pretty. Matheson cut across the goalmouth, took a return pass from Cole Caufield and slid a backhand around Ilya Samsonov just 38 seconds into the game. Matheson has been a revelation this campaign. His 46 points put him into a tie with Morgan Rielly for 10th in scoring among all defenders. With luck, Matheson will flirt with a 60-point season. His previous best was 34 points in 48 games last season.
