Canadiens Lineup

Mike Hoffman – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Tyler Toffoli – Mathieu Perreault – Cole Caufield

Artturi Lehkonen – Cedric Paquette – Joel Armia

Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – David Savard

Sami Niku – Brett Kulak

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

Adam Brooks, Chris Wideman

Jake Evans (undisclosed), Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), Carey Price (player assistance program), Paul Byron (hip), Mattias Norlinder (lower-body), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Game Report

If you thought that Saturday night’s win over the Red Wings signaled that the Canadiens’ season had turned a corner, then I have news for you. It’s abundantly clear that the team, and more precisely, the coaching staff, has not yet put their finger on the issue that is causing the Habs to be on the wrong side of lopsided games. 

If we can set aside the Detroit game as an anomaly, in the remaining six games, the Canadiens scored five goals and have given up 24. That is, on average, they have been scoring less than a goal a game and giving up four. That’s the kind of stark metric that tells you this team is broken.

On Tuesday, the Canadiens could only manage two high-danger scoring chances at 5-on-5. While the Kraken have struggled to close out teams, the Habs did not generate a high-danger scoring chance in the third period. They were simply going through the motions.

We see a common refrain on social media: ‘Why is this happening? This team is better than this.’

A team that is not living up to their potential could have issues with leadership, coaching or chemistry. Maybe all three?

Or maybe the premise isn’t true at all. Perhaps, without Carey Price and Shea Weber, this is exactly what you get with the talent that is left.

Figure it out

Whatever the root of the issue, the Canadiens are completely out of sorts. They are not in sync and spending far too much time being on their heels and chasing the game.

Has the coach determined a solution? If he has, it’s clear that he hasn’t been able to effectively communicate it to the players. Either that, or they are all just very bad at executing the plan. All at the same time.

After Saturday’s game, Dominique Ducharme said that he didn’t want to go back to the feelings experienced during losing streak. The head coach has a day to ensure that the team is not beginning another skid.

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