By Kristina, AllHabs.net
Montreal, QC – Pathetic. Pitiful. Uninspired. I could go on, but what is the point? Anyone who has ever watched three seconds of hockey before can attest to the fact that the Montreal Canadiens’ performance in Pittsburgh on October 20, 2011 was a complete and utter joke.
No emotion, no heart, no will to work hard as a collective unit and fight to earn a win. Instead, the Canadiens laid down like a helpless dog obeying to their angry master. Or in this case, the injury-riddled Pittsburgh Penguins and their lunch-bucket approach to playing hockey games without the elite faces of their franchise.
Lead by James Neal and his league leading seventh goal (tied with Phil Kessel,) the Pittsburgh Penguins wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in first the period. As the pucked clanged off the post at 8:55 of the first period and bounced in behind Carey Price, the air was let out of the Canadiens the way you slowly let the air out of a balloon until it fizzles into a lifeless piece of rubber.
Carey Price kept his team in the game during the first period, with a highlight reel save on Steve Sullivan as he stood at the doorstep staring at an open cage. As he dove across his crease to rob Sullivan of a sure goal, Price demonstrated desperation, battle and compete — something the rest of his team sorely lacked for the entire night.
Being outshot 16-8 in the first and only down one goal, one would hope that the Canadiens would start the second period with a bit more jump. Evidently the 767 kilometre plane ride took the legs right out of the team as the Canadiens appeared to be sauntering on the ice, playing in slow motion. A defensive gaffe by Emelin as he attempted to clear the zone, throwing the puck to the boards, resulted in a deflected goal by Joe Vitale off a Deryk Engelland shot just 2:38 into the second.
The Habs could not take advantage of three power play opportunities in the second as the power play play-by-play statistics do not lie:
- 3:54 – David Desharnais won faceoff against Richard Park in offensive zone
- 4:19 – Yannick Weber credited with hit on Richard Park in neutral zone
- 4:58 – Shot missed by Yannick Webet, wide of the net (Snap 56 ft)
- 5:04 – Tomas Plekanec shot blocked by Deryk Engelland
- 5:48 – P.K. Subban shot blocked by Deryk Engelland
- 7:41 – Shorthanded – Shot missed by Craig Adams, Wide of Net (Tip-In 12 ft)
- 7:58 – Shot on goal by Michael Cammalleri saved by Marc-Andre Fleury (Snap 16 ft)
- 8:16 – Shot on goal by Alexei Emelin saved by Marc-Andre Fleury (Slapshot 56 ft)
- 8:17 – Shorthanded – Richard Park won faceoff against Lars Eller in defensive zone
- 13:53 – Shorthanded – Jordan Staal won faceoff against Tomas Plekanec in defensive zone
- 13:58 – Shot on goal by Yannick Weber saved by Marc-Andre Fleury (Wristshot 62 ft)
- 13:59 – Shorthanded – Jordan Staal won faceoff against Tomas Plekanec in defensive zone
- 15:16 – Shorthanded – Deryk Engelland credit with his on P.K. Subban in defensive zone
- 15:24 – Shot on goal by P.K. Subban saved by Marc-Andre Fleury (Slapshot 48 ft)
Don’t know about you, but that is a lot of lost faceoffs, conceded shorthand opportunities and ineffective perimeter shots. The closest shot on the Pittsburgh goal on three powerplay opportunities cannot be from 16 feet if the Canadiens are going to cash in on the man advantage.
The third period was much of the same. Arron Asham put the icing on the cake at 5:20 of third, batting the puck out of the air the way Mike Cammalleri once did against the Penguins. The Habs also missed out on another power play opportunity and were forced to kill off two penalties as well.
The Canadiens were out shot (32-28), out hit (26-15) and embarrassed in the faceoff circle wining a measly 39% of their draws. In fact, they were embarrassed overall. The only bright spot is that Canadiens remain perfect on the penalty kill on the road and Carey Price is proving that his team mates are shooting him in the foot as he continues to try and reach the 100-game win plateau.
It is easy to blame the coach and the system but nobody was blaming him when the Canadiens made it to the Eastern conference semi-final two years ago or when the Canadiens were one goal away of knocking off the eventual Stanley Cup champions last year.
The Canadiens have much of the same team now as they did then. In fact, one could argue that the team is better with a matured and regular Max Pacioretty and another power-foward in Erik Cole.
Bottom line, the Canadiens need to look at themselves in the mirror and dig a little deeper.
Or just listen to Hall Gill.
The Canadiens face the Leafs (4-1-1) and the hottest player in the league on Saturday night and the word “win” for the Habs appears to be the only option.
