CANADIENS
Montreal

BLUE JACKETS
Columbus

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Danault – Radulov
Byron – Mitchell – Gallagher
Lehkonen – Plekanec – Flynn
Carr – McCarron – Terry
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Beaulieu – Weber
Barberio – Petry
Hanley – Redmond
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Montoya
Price

Scratches

Alexei Emelin (birth of his daughter)

Injured Reserve

Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee), Greg Pateryn (ankle), Andrew Shaw (concussion), Andrei Markov (lower body)

Game Report

Canadiens media and fans are a funny lot. Before the game even ended the excuse machine was cranked up to 10.

“The Canadiens played last night and have played three games in the last four days.” Well, Columbus played on Thursday night too beating the Penguins 7-1. Just like the Canadiens the Blue Jackets played on Tuesday. They won that game too beating the Kings.

“Habs were playing their backup. Score would have been different if the goalies were swapped.”  Maybe. But since Carey Price can’t play every game, the Canadiens have to win when Al Montoya is playing too. Montreal can’t remain being a team who solely relies on Price for wins.

The statement also creates a false narrative. Montoya didn’t allow any especially egregious goals. And while Sergei Bobrovsky made two good saves on Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher, he wasn’t especially tested either.  When Jeff Petry and Shea Weber combine for 25 per cent of your shots on goal, there is a good chance that many of them are coming from the perimeter.

“Bobrovsky stole the game!” Didn’t happen. See above.

“The Habs were without six regulars. So they played well considering..” First let’s pare that number down a bit. Greg Pateryn is not a regular in the lineup. David Desharnais would not be a regular on any other team in the league. Both are easily replaced. So that leaves four. 

Many Canadiens fans constantly complain that Andrei Markov is old, slow and washed up. And they consider Alexei Emelin trade bait. Andrew Shaw is a third line player. So why now are they complaining that ‘the cupboard is bare?’

Alex Galchenyuk is the key injury. It is the one that hurts most and he is the player who is the most irreplaceable. But championship teams cope with injuries even to key players. The Penguins had a rookie in net on the Stanley Cup run. And played without Evgeni Malkin for long stretches last season.

The ‘moral victory’ crowd that has sprung up doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of sports. Moral wins are not accompanied by two points. ‘Good try’ is not a column in the standings. And losses that happen with a less than full complement are not marked with an asterisk that are given special consideration come playoff time.

You can be assured that none of the players were seriously talking about a moral victory after they lost to the first place team by just one goal.

Keep in mind how important it was for the Canadiens to win on Friday night. It wasn’t just any other game. It was a potential pay-back game. The Canadiens were trounced 10-0 on November 4th. It was a humiliating way to end a winning streak.

The Canadiens were embarrassed by the Blue Jackets. The score and the cannon blasts were discussed for days after the game. Even non-hockey fans were aware of the result.

So tonight’s game was circled on the schedule. There was a little extra incentive for a win. And the visitors came up short. That stings.

Right now, the Canadiens are not playing well enough on the road. And they are not playing well enough against the top teams in the league to be confident of a long playoff run.

Defensive zone coverage remains an issue. The Habs continue to lose special teams matchups on a nightly basis. Against the Blue Jackets, giving up a power-play goal and not generating anything with the man advantage was the difference in the game.

~~~

▲     Jeff Petry

▼     Nathan Beaulieu, Mark Barberio, special teams

1.  Sergei Bobrovsky  CBJ
2.  Nick Foligno  CBJ
3.  Brandon Saad  CBJ

• “I’m disappointed for the players, because they deserved a better result with the way they played tonight. These are things that happen over the course of a season. It’s up to us to find ways to score. Moral victories don’t come with two points.”
• “We showed a lot of character. We were resilient during the game. I thought our work ethic was good. Bounce was not on our side.”
• “We need offence from [Alexander Radulov.] Certainly he is missing (Alex) Galchenyuk. But he has to stick to it. He has to be a leader offensively.”
• “At the end of the day, we have to find a way to win the special teams battles. Tonight, we lost it again.”

Alexander Radulov

• “It doesn’t make us happy to play ‘not too bad’. We tried – we gave it everything we got. Obviously Monty [ Al Montoya ] was special for us too, because of what happened last time we played here. We wanted to get the better result for Monty, but it is what it is.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com