CANADIENS
Montreal

DEVILS
New Jersey

Game Report

With playoff about to arrive in Montreal, a damper has been thrown over enthusiastic Habs fans.  The Canadiens have lost three games in a row and five of the last six.

Friday night’s loss was particularly tough to swallow for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the Devils are 25th place team in the league and just ended a six-game skid.  New Jersey got goals from two players who scored their first goals of the season.  The Devils are 28th in the league in goals scored and 29th in shots per game.

But it was the lack of offense by the Canadiens, particularly on the power-play that had fans howling.  Montreal went 1-for-6 with the man advantage with Tomas Plekanec, centering the second wave getting the power-play goal.

But the Habs had a full five-minute power-play where all they could muster was a single shot on goal.  Then there was just over 30 seconds of 5-on-3 time.  And if that wasn’t enough there was a 4-on-3 opportunity in overtime.

As P.K. Subban said post-game, power-plays are not complicated. It is important for the forwards to have a net-front presence, to create a screen, deflections or to battle for rebounds.  On Plekanec’s goal it was Brendan Gallagher creating havoc. And on Jeff Petry’s even-strength goal it was Lars Eller creating traffic in front.

But Michel Therrien’s first impulse is to deploy David Desharnais out with the man advantage even though DD would much rather park himself at the side of the goal. Of his 17:49 of icetime, Desharnais had 5:21 on the power-play but ended the game without a shot on goal.

Personnel choices are just one aspect of a successful power-play. But perhaps if the coach operated on a merit-based system it would be more successful.  In addition to not having a net presence, losing puck battles and poor zone entries are factors hurting the power-play.  Again player choices only exacerbate the problem.

But those choices extend beyond the power-play.  Desharnais and P.A. Parenteau each had an astonishing 100 per cent score for offensive zone starts.  Yet both had a negative Corsi. And defensively, Desharnais failed to cover the point on the first Devils goal. No Canadiens shooter, including Desharnais and Parenteau, has scored a goal in shootouts on back-to-back nights.

There are solutions to the Canadiens power-play woes and to sparking the offense. But we have seen no indication that Therrien is inclined to do anything differently.

Stubbornness, arrogance and an unwillingness to adapt has been Therrien’s downfall in the past. Some fans believe that he is headed down that path again.

Just a few words on Dustin Tokarski.  He is probably not destined to be a starting goaltender in the NHL.  Tokarski is not a strong positional goalie, has trouble with rebound control, plays small and doesn’t handle the puck very well.  But he should have enough talent to contribute as a backup. His recent performances speak more loudly about how mediocre the Canadiens are as a team without Carey Price.

That said, Tokarski is a battler.  But, in a rare moment, we witnessed Dustin give up on a play when he was deked by Patrik Elias.  As a result, it was an embarrassing play and indicative that the young goalie has lost confidence.  While Tokarski is under contract for one more year, it’s fair to say that Marc Bergevin will be under pressure to look at other options for next season.

▲     Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Plekanec, Jeff Petry, Alex Galchenyuk, Max Pacioretty, Lars Eller

▼     David Desharnais, Torrey Mitchell, Nathan Beaulieu, Max Pacioretty, Brandon Prust, P.A. Parenteau, Dale Weise

1.  Keith Kincaid  NJD
2.  Stefan Matteau  NJD
3.  Andy Greene  NJD

• “Our power play came out flat tonight. That was the story of the game. We weren’t able to generate enough offense on special teams. It’s disappointing. We played a tight game again tonight. We allowed just 17 shots in regulation. We played well for a second game in a row, but the power play was the difference tonight. It’s not complicated.”
• “We wanted to give [Markov] some rest in a back-to-back game situation. He’s played a lot of hockey for us and has played big minutes. Approaching the [Stanley Cup Playoffs] we have to make sure we’re smart with our decisions. Andrei wanted to play, and that’s normal, but we have to manage his energy because [the start of the playoffs] is knocking on the door and we have to make sure we have energy in the tank.”

P.K. Subban

• “We’ve played a lot of good hockey this year, and these next couple of games are important for us to continue to pay attention to the details and make sure we’re sharp. There’s no doubt in my mind that the power play needs to be better. It’s been up and down, but there’s been too many times, in my opinion, where we haven’t been able to capitalize and it’s been frustrating for everyone. It’s not easy. This is the time of year we have to figure out what to do to put the puck in the net.”
• “[The power play] factors into games, so if you think we’re going to go through the whole playoffs and think that our power play is not going to be a factor for us, think again. You look at last year when it was a factor against [the Tampa Bay Lightning] and an even bigger factor for us against [the Boston Bruins], so whatever it is we have to figure it out.”
• “I’m not sitting here saying we didn’t have opportunities, but when you get that many chances you have to find a way. You can’t ask for more than that.”
• “Power plays are simple, in my opinion. You just [have] to get the puck, put it to the net and generate traffic. We can draw up 50 million different plays and switch positions, but when we’ve had success on our power play it was when we got the puck to the net, got traffic in front and were working hard for rebounds. That’s what it takes to score on the power play nowadays and at this level.”

Max Pacioretty

• “It’s definitely a blown opportunity, two shootout loses in a row.  It’s two points we can’t take back. We had enough opportunities to close out this game. It’s something we have to work on.”

Devils co-coach Lou Lamoriello

• “[Matteau] is a power forward and he needs to play like one. He has size and strength and he has to get in the corners and finish checks. He’s not a finesse player but does have skills.”
• “[Our penalty-killers] did a great job. ‘They gave up that one quick one and after that just about killed everything.”