By J.D. Lagrange, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
The 2014-2015 season is only 12 games old and tendencies are being noticed around the Montreal Canadiens as they are going through their first slump of the season, having lost three of their last four games. The good news is that they are areas that can be improved rather easily considering the player personnel in place, but it needs to be addressed before bad habits become the norm.
PENTICTON, BC. – It is no secret that the Canadiens’ lack of production on the power play has been well below expectations considering the personnel at Michel Therrien’s disposition, including two of the league’s best quarterbacks at the point in Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban. Currently running at a 9.1 percent efficiency rate, the Habs are in the bottom five in the NHL in this category. But it goes deeper than a lack of production.
The Canadiens have only benefited from just 33 power play opportunities so far this season. Only four teams have had fewer chances on the power play so far in the NHL. For a team whose game is based on speed and aggressive forecheck, this is not enough. While my dislike for the quality of officiating (or lack of thereof) is well known, I don’t like using that excuse when trying to justify such statistic. It points to a team not using its strength to its full potential as far as I’m concerned. Or are the Habs being victimized for being catalogued as an embellishing team, as the league is cracking down on such actions?
Either way, in order to be successful, a team must take advantage of at least 20 percent of their power play chances, which is far from being the case. They need to go back to the basics and stop being too cute. Send pucks to the net with players in front pouncing on rebounds and create havoc in front of the opposition’s goaltender, hoping to get one deflected off a leg or a skate. One or two more goals per game on the power play would go a long way in changing the momentum of the game and perhaps, allow the team to take the lead.
Allowing the first goal
Only twice this season have the Canadiens scored the first goal of the game. Considering their record of 8-3-1, it’s amazing to see that they are doing so well. It does take a lot of character to come back and win games but when you play with fire, you’re bound to get burnt and that’s exactly what has been happening lately. Only twice this season has the team scored the first goal of the game and they won them both, but playing catch-up has caught up to them in the last four game stretch and had it not been for Carey Price’s stellar performances, they would find themselves in much worse shape in the standings.
Rare are the times when we’ve seen the team ready to start the game and pressure the opponent in their zone consistently. You may see one or two lines on any given night putting some kind of pressure but the other two lines struggling to keep the momentum going. Coming from a team that is four-lines deep, it simply doesn’t cut it. In order to build momentum and start tiring the opposition, you need four or five shifts in a row with pressure.
Discipline
How many times this season have we seen the team being up to a good start, only to have the momentum being killed by a penalty? Or how many times were the Habs on the power play only to see it being annulled by an undisciplined penalty? And how many times did the team have to defend two or three times in a row in the same period?
The Canadiens have been issued 59 minor penalties in their first 12 games and only the Colorado Avalanche, who have played one more game, have received more with 60. At the other end of the spectrum, the Edmonton Oilers have only been given 33 minor penalties this season, and the mighty Philadelphia Flyers 36.
Thankfully, the Habs penalty kill is at a very respectable 86.3 percent when defending in those situations or the problem would be emphasized greatly. The time that the team spends killing penalties is time that cannot be used to generate offense, momentum and put pressure on the opposition. To the contrary, killing penalties wears out the defenders, the goaltender and adds to the bruises by blocking shots and not having control of the puck.
One man who must improve on his discipline is none other than the team’s highest paid player, P.K. Subban. The star defenseman leads the NHL in minor penalties so far this season with 10 and that’s nothing new to him. Last season, he received 38 minor penalties (5th in the NHL) and two years ago, he was called 21 times in 42 games (10th in the league). When your best defenseman spends this much time in the penalty box, it puts the team at a disadvantage and it’s a problem that must be fixed, especially from someone vying to get the captaincy of the team one day, one of its leaders.
Of course, there are those who are not yet playing to expectation, or while the effort may be there, the results aren’t showing quite yet. David Desharnais is on pace for a 41 points season, while Brendan Gallagher and P-A Parenteau less than that. Lars Eller and Rene Bourque, after showing what they could do in the playoffs last year, are not living up to expectations so far. Perhaps if the team spent less time killing penalties, those players would see more ice time to spend attacking instead…
In spite of all of that, the team is up to its best start since Marc Bergevin and Michel Therrien have taken over the team. Their 17 points place them tied for first place with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference and if they can bring the power play to a respectable level, focus on starting games with more conviction and stay out of the penalty box, they will see better results.
Go Habs Go!