Canadiens Lineup

Jonathan Drouin – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Tomas Tatar – Max Domi – Andrew Shaw 

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia 

Charles Hudon – Nate Thompson – Dale Weise

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Mike Reilly – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Jordie Benn

Antti Niemi – Carey Price

Christian Folin, , Matthew Peca, Nicolas Deslauriers

Paul Byron (upper body)

Game Report

It was a loss that Carey Price didn’t deserve. But Price is a team-first guy and saw his teammate drowning again. Did he insist on going in to bail out Antti Niemi? We can’t be sure.

But Price has done it before in similar situations. Niemi gave up three stoppable goals on nine shots in just 13:57 of work tonight in Sunrise.

Claude Julien was crystal clear that he didn’t want to use Price tonight. Price and Martin Jones are the two most heavily used goaltenders in the NHL since December 1st.

Price has been stellar in that time but his workload should be a concern to Canadiens brass. Niemi has started just three games in the past month.

Niemi is beloved by Habs fans so they are bound to excuse a few bad starts. Problem is that Niemi has only had four quality starts this season of 15.

With the Canadiens officially in a slump (as defined by Julien) after losing four games in a row, there will be additional pressure to preserve points. Including the Florida game, Montreal plays six times in 10 days to end the month of February. 

With a playoff spot hanging in the balance, how many games would you entrust to Niemi?

On April 14th after the last game of the 2017-18 season for the Laval Rocket, I said goodbye to Charlie Lindgren and wished him well in Montreal. It was the obvious next step.

In the summer, Marc Bergevin went in a different direction re-signing Niemi. Since training camp, the 35-year-old veteran has struggled mightily. There is still time for Bergevin to correct his mistake before the workload takes a toll on his franchise player.

Speaking of mistakes, Jonathan Drouin has been dreadful on the road trip. So much so, that some in the mainstream media are even doing the unthinkable and criticizing the pococurante Drouin. 

Julien has also broken the unspoken rule. After the Tampa game, the Habs head coach pointed at Drouin for forcing a pass that led to the Lightning’s second goal. Tonight, Julien said that in addition to the bad start, the turning point in the game was two bad second period penalties committed by Drouin and Phillip Danault.

The Canadiens must stop their current slide. It won’t be easy with a tough schedule, an unreliable back up, unaccountable forwards and special teams that are a liability. Marc Bergvin’s fourth line fix has not worked so far. He may be forced to make another move before the deadline.

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price

▼  Jonathan Drouin, Mike Reilly, Brett Kulak, Dale Weise, Nate Thompson, Charles Hudon, Victor Mete, Phillip Danault, Jordie Benn