Canadiens Lineup

Jonathan Drouin – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Tomas Tatar – Max Domi – Andrew Shaw

Paul Byron – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia 

Artturi Lehkonen – Nate Thompson – Matthew Peca

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Mike Reilly – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Jordie Benn

Carey Price – Antti Niemi

Christian Folin, Charles Hudon, Nicolas Deslauriers, Dale Weise, Jordan Weal

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Game Report

Canadiens fans were in a snarly mood following a disappointing loss in Newark on Monday night. Following the emotional collapse against a bitter rival on Saturday, the Habs delivered a dud against the 28th place team in the league.

With just 19 games left on the schedule, Montreal won’t be allowed a pass for taking a night off particularly against a bottom-feeder. The Canadiens are just one point up on Carolina and Pittsburgh, with both teams holding a game in hand.

And this after, Marc Bergevin essentially skipped the NHL trade deadline saying that he didn’t want to disrupt the chemistry of the dressing room. The players took his vote of confidence and flushed it down a Prudential Center toilet.

Wanna blame Shea Weber? The Canadiens captain has been exceptional since returning from injury. But it is clear that he is either gassed or injured.

That’s understandable given that Weber has been playing a position and a half every single night covering for a guy who would be a better fit on the third trio.

Speaking of bottom-pairing defencemen, the Canadiens have an abundance of them: Jordie Benn, Mike Reilly, Brett Kulak, Christian Folin, Xavier Ouellet, Karl Alzner. The ramifications of failing to add top four talent in the off-season (and at the deadline) is going to start becoming more apparent down the stretch.

It also may have an affect on Carey Price, who has been bailing out his defence on a regular basis since December. Added to Price’s burden is his workload, given that the coaching staff cannot trust Antti Niemi, who has only managed four quality starts all season.

In one of the more disingenuous moments of Bergevin’s presser, he expressed his full confidence in “Nemo.” Reporters in attendance failed to ask the obvious follow-up: then why does he rarely start, especially lately?

The only move Bergevin made on trade deadline day was yet another attempt to patch the hole on the fourth line that he created months ago by jettisoning players developed by the organization.

Did you expect help for the Canadiens woeful power-play? It went 0-for-4 on Monday night. Bergevin said that one player would not fix his struggling unit. The Habs GM said it was a problem of the group not playing well together. 

For an entire season.

Perhaps he could have added someone who would help them work better together. Because if that isn’t the solution, what is? Group counselling?

All-in-all, it was a disappointing day for Habs fans, both the performance of the general manager and the one delivered by their team in Newark.

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Jeff Petry, Tomas Tatar

▼  Matthew Peca, Nate Thompson, Victor Mete, Shea Weber, Brett Kulak, Jordie Benn