Game 6: Montreal 1 Pittsburgh 3 (Consol Energy Center)

Written by Rick Stephens, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC. — Come with me. Today we have tickets to the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Oh, your welcome — it’s nothing — it’s a small gesture for being such loyal All Habs readers.

Okay now, take your seats.

Well friends, I’m sorry, this is quite a different type of concert. Yes, that’s musical director Kent Nagano but for some reason he is not really communicating with his musicians. They seem to have been left to their own devices to individually select music, tempo and interpretation.

And frankly, they have each chosen quite differently.

The only role that Maestro Nagano is playing is to randomly select five individuals who play their own selection at the same time, and then he steps in to stop them about a minute later. Now he’s choosing the next five. Oh my, they’re even worse than the first group.

Steve, it’s not really polite to cover your ears at a symphony concert. But I have to tell you, I agree with the sentiment. This is just awful — it’s noise and chaos.

What’s that Chantal? Yes, I realize that the musicians are professionals, and that the performance is in their hands once they take the stage. But even professionals need direction to be able to come together to make beautiful music.

It’s the conductor’s job to push each musician to perform at his/her highest level. And through his baton, Nagano provides the structure to help them blend together to create a wonderful sound that they can’t possibly produce on their own.

But the first step is to pass out sheet music parts from the same symphony and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

***

“We have to all get on the same page and hopefully things will work out.” — Carey Price

I see, you are trying to make me believe that the Canadiens weren’t working together tonight, but am I to believe the words of a goaltender? They’re all a little quirky. It’s not like the quote came from a grizzled veteran.  Besides, we have injuries to blame for the Habs’ poor performance.

“We need everyone to be on the same page and injuries are not an excuse. Just look at the Penguins.” — Mathieu Darche

Fine, but I’m still not convinced. If the captain says that the Habs need to be on the same page then maybe I’ll start to believe. In fact, if he uses the words twice in the same quote, then you will have won me over.

“We know we have the right makeup. It’s not that. It’s just a matter of mentally being prepared and making sure that we are on the same page. And we have to find a way to get on the same page.” — Brian Gionta

***

Not on the same page? Confused? Those are mild descriptions of the way the Canadiens played tonight against Pittsburgh. More accurately, they looked bewildered.

They either don’t understand the system they are expected to play or have lost confidence in the merits of the system. I don’t believe that there was a lack of effort in this game. But the players were not playing smart and not playing to their strengths.

Were the Habs disinterested? No. However as the game wore on, they did look disspirited.

Despite the confusion around him, the only Canadiens player who had a firm grip on his game was Carey Price. He made spectacular saves throughout the contest, and kept the score much closer than the difference in play would dictate. The Penguins easily deserved to have their goal total doubled.

Pittsburgh possessed the puck for most of the first period. The Canadiens passive transition style game had nothing to work with. Shots in the first period were 16-to-8 for the Penguins.

By the second period, the Habs were already looking like a tired team. They had spent far too much time in their own end chasing Pittsburgh puck carriers. Penalty-killing duties — Montreal took five minor penalties — further draining players which affected their ability to generate offense.

Tomas Plekanec spent 5:21 of his almost 22 minutes of ice-time killing penalties.

With the Canadiens looking confused and fatigued, coach Jacques Martin decided it was the best time to engage in a combinatoric exercise. How many different line combinations can one create with 11 (Scott Gomez left the game with an injury) forwards? If my Math is correct, the answer is 165 possibilities, and we saw a good number of the combinations on Thursday night.

Not surprisingly, the coach didn’t help matters with his line juggling scheme. The players looked more bewildered, disenchanted, and not at all on the same page.

Plus / Minus

▼ Travis Moen works hard and despite his brief two-goal spurt belongs in the bottom-6.

▼ Mathieu Darche is a good character guy and a not-every-night fourth line player. He didn’t have a bad game but enough with him on the power-play!

▼ David Desharnais is the best AHL-player Max Pacioretty ever played with, but that means zero in the NHL. At even strength, Desharnais is winning only 30 per cent of the faceoffs, meaning his linemates spend the majority of their shift trying to gain possession of the puck.

▼ The power-play is dreadful at 2-for-26. Make it simpler. Weber and Subban at the point have shots that will be feared. Choose from Plekanec and Eller as playmaking centers. Kostitsyn, Pacioretty and Cole are big bodies who can screen and dig the puck. Cammalleri and Gionta are finishers. Assemble two power-play units from the above players and stick with them.

▼ Jacques Martin and his coaching staff must do a much better job communicating with the players. Set lines and leave them alone to develop chemistry. The passive read-and-react system is not working and should be ditched.

All Habs game stars
1. Carey Price
2. Tomas Plekanec
3. Lars Eller