CANADIENS
Montreal

SENATORS
Ottawa

Game Notes:

Since the trade deadline, the Canadiens have a record of 1-3-2.  The single win in six games came against the 28th place Coyotes.  That game was a one-goal nail biter until an empty-netter sealed it.

Montreal is not playing good hockey, they haven’t been for some time. But the extraordinary play of Carey Price this season has hidden a lot of warts.

The Habs are far too soft particularly the top two lines. Five-on-five, the Desharnais and Plekanec lines generated next to nothing offensively.  Max Pacioretty had a power-play goal and a short-handed goal.  P.A. Parenteau was a ghost: ZERO shots and a minus-1 in 16: 34 and 4:59 in power-play time.  Even harder to find on the ice than the Canadiens No. 15 was his unprofessional player agent on Twitter.

Prior to the game, coach Therrien said he didn’t want Parenteau to “put pressure on himself to score.”  Apparently P.A. was listening. Therrien also said that he expected the winger to  compete and be intense.  It did not happen in this game.

The only line that wass hard to play against is Jacob de la Rose, Lars Eller and Devante Smith-Pelly.

But we have heard a million times that Michel Therrien is a defense-first coach, hence a lack of scoring.  That’s a giant myth.  Therrien’s team gives up 30.4 shots per game, that’s 22nd in the league.

When that stat is presented, the reply is usually, ‘Okay, maybe they give up a lot of shots, but they are low-quality shots.’ That is just utter nonsense.  Shot charts demonstrate that opponents get loads of scoring opportunities from prime areas.  Heat charts show that the area around Carey Price’s crease is sizzling.

With the Canadiens failing to generate offense — 26th in shots/game, 21st in goals/game and 25th in power-play success — and playing poor defense, the question begs to be asked, ‘What kind of system is the coaching staff using?’

Each of the players traded to Montreal has commented on how different the Canadiens system is.  Smith-Pelly noted that there was more structure in Anaheim.  There were defined zones of responsibility and players knew where teammates would be.  With Therrien’s ‘read and react’ system it is far more loose.

When it works, the Habs are a very good transition team, a quick-strike offense that is very opportunistic.  But facing a good skating team (like the Senators) or a very aggressive team like the Ducks, the system falls apart with players looking disjointed and ineffective.

It is acknowledged that the Habs have a few gaps in the lineup.  But they also have a solid core of offensive players: Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov, Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher, Jeff Petry. With this group, the Canadiens shouldn’t be struggling to score on a nightly basis.  And they, most certainly should have a top-10 power-play.

In addition Plekanec, Pacioretty, Lars Eller, Jacob de la Rose, Markov and at times Subban are very effective defenders.  Carey Price shouldn’t have to be spectacular every game for the Habs to win.

It is the responsibility of the head coach to get the best out of his players.  Putting players in positions to succeed is something often said about former Canadiens coach Gerard Gallant.  Preparation and effective communication are also strengths of Gallant and may be items in short supply since his departure from the Habs coaching staff.

Many would question Therrien’s ability to adapt a system that is getting stale and in-game adjustments (not to mention that whole unjustifiably playing favorites thing.)  Perhaps it was something that Carey Price was hinting at post-game when he said, “We’re not surprising anyone anymore. Teams are well-prepared to play us.”  Price wasn’t calling out anyone but if he is right, that’s on the coaching staff.

The Canadiens won’t be out-goaltended in the playoffs.  But it would be a shame to witness an early exit because they were out-coached.

Plus / Minus

▲     Max Pacioretty, Andrei Markov, Lars Eller, Jeff Petry

▼     P.A. Parenteau, Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais, Nathan Beaulieu, Sergei Gonchar, Dale Weise

1.  Erik Karlsson  OTT
2.  Andrew Hammond  OTT
3.  Max Pacioretty  MTL

• “It was not about the offence tonight. We’re not competing as a team and that’s why we’re having trouble.”

Brandon Prust

• “We have to see this as kind of a wakeup call and realize that all these other teams are fighting for playoff spots and we can’t feel comfortable sitting where we are.  We have to get it in our minds that we’re fighting for our lives, too.”
• “We’re far from playing our best hockey like we were a month ago and for most of the season.  We’re not there right now. We’ve played solid hockey and found ways to win and we just have to be better. We have a lot to accomplish still.”

P.K. Subban

• “Did they get some fortunate bounces? They did, but they worked hard for their bounces. I find that when you’re working hard you get those types of bounces. They worked extremely hard tonight. We knew that they’re a team that’s battling to make the playoffs, they’re battling for their lives every night, and we had to match that intensity.“
• “I think we had some opportunities to put the game away. When you’re up 2-0 you want to get that third goal to really put the dagger in, but we didn’t get it.”

Max Pacioretty

• “This is the time where we really have to stick together and stick to the game plan.  When you’re battling like this and things aren’t going your way, you just have to simplify everything and try to rely on your system. I’m not worried about our team. The guys in here are resilient and we’re going to come out ready to play the next one.“

Carey Price

• “We’re not catching anybody by surprise anymore. When we’re sitting at the top of the standings other teams are prepared.”

Senators coach Dave Cameron

• “I don’t want to take anything away from [Andrew Hammond’s] game tonight, but it was one of his easiest games because I think it was the best we’ve played in front of him. When your team is down 2-0 early, through no fault of his, you look for your team to rebound, but more importantly you look for your goalie to rebound, and he held the fort. He held the fort and we played much better, and from top to bottom I thought we were real solid the last two periods.”