Montreal 0 Tampa Bay 3 ( Centre)
Disinterested.
Is there any other way to describe the effort of the Canadiens tonight? Well that is, other than the title of this review “Going Through the Motions?” Did the players want this game to end as much as I did in the third period?
The Habs looked like they wished to be anywhere else other than on the ice. It was a painful game to watch.
Montreal coach Jacques Martin said that he saw some good things and that he thought it was a better effort than the previous game against the Panthers. We apparently saw different games obviously, although this isn’t the first time.
Ryan O’Byrne, in addition to much better play, has become a candid voice of reason in the dressing room.
“It’s disappointing to come down here and play two, for the most part, uninspired games,” O’Byrne said.
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
It appears that the Canadiens have stopped playing for their coach. Some may say that they were never on board. The two most recent wins against the Devils and the Rangers, the Habs forechecked aggressively, and played a puck pursuit style that we don’t often associate with coach Martin. And how do the players feel?
“No one’s going to feel sorry for us,” Montreal center Scott Gomez said. “We’ve got to regroup. We’ve got to come up with a new game plan and go at it again.”
“A new game plan” could simply be a sports cliche from a veteran. Or it could be a player, who was schooled in the Devils organization, tactfully and with subtlety making his point that the present system is not working.
It would appear that the NHL has passed Martin by. What worked pre-lockout is no longer successful. A passive system like Martin’s is ineffective and doesn’t take advantage of the Canadiens strengths (speed) and exposes their weaknesses (defense).
The Lightning were a beatable team. They had nine giveaways, in the first period alone. Anterro Niittymaki made 33 saves but the Habs made him look good for his first shutout of the season. Few shots were dangerous. The Canadiens didn’t go to the net. The Habs were not a threat while five on five.
Carey Price did his job. No, goaltending wasn’t the problem for the Canadiens in Florida (and hasn’t been this season). The fact that the Habs scored a grand total of one goal in two games means they didn’t give themselves much chance to win either game.
Mistakes and uninspired play were the key. A giveaway by Scott Gomez, poor coverage by Max Lapierre, turnovers by Josh Gorges and defensive lapses by Benoit Pouliot were all to blame. Hal Gill also struggled and was a minus two in the game. Canadiens’ forwards were a pitiful 35 per cent at the faceoff dot.
Jacques Martin singled out two players, Ryan O’Byrne and Sergei Kostitsyn, for their fine play. I agree, and would add Tomas Plekanec to that list. The Canadiens showed emotion on one occasion when O’Byrne manhandled Matt Smaby and Gomez disrobed Victor Hedman.
The Habs only dressed 19 players for the game with Jaroslav Spacek being a late scratch with flu symptoms.
Rocket’s three stars
1. Steve Downie
2. Vincent Lecavalier
3. Sergei Kostitsyn
Material from wire services was used in this report.
(photo credit: Getty)
To many, I'm sure the pain associated with the last 2 games is made worse because of the way the Canadiens played vs the Devils and Rangers. They looked like a completely different team on those nights.
Back on the night of the centennial celebration I said that I was no longer going to be fooled by this team, and I'm happy to say that I've stuck to that. Sure, a game like the Rangers or Devils from last week are a pleasure to watch. It's refreshing, but I would not let myself believe that those were the real Canadiens.
I can't see a pattern to the way they play. They've won while looking bad; very bad, and sometimes, they've even won when looking good (quite the rarity). More often they look overmatched and as if they're running around trying to plug holes in a leaky dam. We've all seen that cartoon.
I concur that Martin seems to be losing this team, if he hasn't lost them already. They either can't play his system, or won't. Either way, something is going to give soon. Are they going to try and make us believe that practise is the answer? Yeah, right.
There's no reason for a highly priced team to mail in the effort like this, or to be dominated by the Florida Panthers. Read that again. In the last 2 games, the Canadiens were dominated by the Panthers (check who the Panthers had in the lineup) and mailed it in vs the Lightning. They scored 1 goal in 2 games against teams that they are in hot competition with for a playoff spot.
What is wrong with this picture?
Amazing, isn't it, that the Habs have their best games when they throw out Martin's passive system?
I'm really curious to know what the players really think of Martin's system. I mean, that it doesn't really work is not news — the team's five-on-five struggles are well-documented. What sometimes escapes notice is that the team has actually gotten worse over time; earlier in the year, they would outchance and outplay teams but were done in by erratic goaltending. Both goaltenders have fixed their games and started standing on their heads, which has served to mask the degradation in the play of the skaters.
Martin was supposed to be a strong systemic coach who can prepare teams well, implement a strong five-on-five game, was reknowned for his efficient transition game, and proclaimed he wanted a puck possession system. We're pretty much seeing the complete opposite of that. I feel there ought to be a consumer protection bureau I can file a complain with for fraudulent advertising. :)
Unfortunately, complaining about the coach is a little moot; with his rich contract the coach is not going to be replaced until at least next season, so I fully expect to see this season and next go to waste.
In the meantime, if you adjust for games in hand that make the Habs look better than they've been, the team is on pace for 26th in the league — a lottery pick. They're within striking distance of the playoffs because the Eastern conference is so inept, and someone will make the playoffs with 86 points, but… I wonder if it would not be better for the franchise to go for the top-5 pick and the 8% shot at Taylor Hall. Not like the passive style is going to go very far in the playoffs.
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