CANADIENS
Montreal

COYOTES
Arizona

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Galchenyuk – Plekanec – Gallagher
Pacioretty – Desharnais – Andrighetto
Fleischmann – Eller – Byron
De la Rose – Mitchell – Weise[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Markov- Subban
Beaulieu – Gilbert
Emelin – Pateryn[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Condon
Scrivens

Scratches: Devante Smith-Pelly, Mark Barberio
Injured reserve:  Carey Price, Daniel Carr, Lucas Lessio, Brian Flynn, Jeff Petry

Game Report

‘The worst Montreal Canadiens team I have ever seen.’

That’s the most frequent comment I hear from fans about the 2015-16 edition of their beloved team. When you probe a little, you realize that fans aren’t talking about the least talented team but the most disappointing.

They’re right.

And right now, the Canadiens are playing some horrible hockey. It’s physically painful to watch.  And the bad news is that there are almost two months more left of games like we witnessed on Monday night.

The game summary reads like so many others this season. Montreal’s goaltending wasn’t good enough and the Habs did nothing to take advantage of a weak netminder at the other end of the ice.  And the Canadiens lost the special teams matchup.

At the halfway mark of this game, it was over and done. And Habs fans were turning off their TVs in droves.

The question asked by Shawn is being asked by most every Canadiens fan. In addition to directing it to Michel Therrien and Marc Begevin, you can toss Geoff Molson into the mix.

Phrased a little more elegantly, ‘Where is the accountability?’

Without Carey Price, Therrien has been fully exposed to be thoroughly incapable of instilling confidence, getting the best out of his players, doing game preparation, making adjustments and effectively managing player usage.

A head coach like this on any other team in the league would have been fired in December. Instead Habs fans are enduring the third month of his historic collapse.

We are told all the time that bilingualism is a crucial quality of coaching in Montreal so that the fans can relate to the team and receive communication in their own language.

Is anyone relating to the losing?  Do you wait with bated breath for the post-game presser to listen to the condescending comments from this petulant child?

Immunity does funny things.

It is also clear that respect is plummeting for the general manager who is hiding behind the season-long guarantee that he gave the coach.  Admit it Marc, it was a mistake made by an inexperienced GM.  Just a mistake. But failing to fire Therrien now is pure incompetence.

Losing is bad. But losing when players and fans know it doesn’t have to be this way introduces a corrosive element into the mix that can bring long-lasting effects.

Fans are feeling shame and embarrassment about this franchise. Players have no interest in playing here. It’s long overdue that Molson discards the political experiment and returns the once-proud Canadiens to a meritocracy.

The Habs are in Denver to play the Avalanche on Wednesday.

~~~

▲     Sven Andrighetto, Jacob De la Rose, Brendan Gallagher

▼     Michel Therrien, Marc Bergevin, Mike Condon,  Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais, P.K. Subban, Alexei Emelin, Andrei Markov, Torrey Mitchell

1. Martin Hanzal  ARI
2. Oliver Ekman-Larsson  ARI
3. Anthony Duclair  ARI

• “We talked about [pulling Condon], me and Steph Waite, after the second period but we decided to keep Mike there.” Any reason? “No reason.”
• “As long as we don’t make good reads defensively and we don’t check well, we don’t have a chance to win.”

Max Pacioretty

• “We just show up to the rink every day and try to do our job. Tonight we didn’t do our job. We have to come to the rink tomorrow and try to make each other better. We have to make sure we’re prepared for Colorado. This season isn’t over. We have 25 games left and we have to bounce back from this.“

P.K. Subban

• “There was a lack of energy and emotion, and we need that. Everyone has to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they are playing their best hockey right now. You can’t feel sorry for yourself or anyone else, you have to play your best and find your way.“
• “We need guys playing with heavy hearts and being emotional, and we just didn’t have that today.”

Coyotes forward Martin Hanzal

• “Everybody knows where we are in the standings. We were ready from the beginning and that was the key tonight.“

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com