State of the Habs is an 11-part feature series where I’ll break down the Habs’ season into 4- to 6-game chunks and look at players who are under- or over-performing during that time, while commenting on issues surrounding the team.
See Previous Segments:
Part 1 (Games 1-4: 3-1-0, “The Boys are Back in Town”)
Part 2 (Games 5-8: 3-1-0, “Rinse and Repeat”)
Part 3 (Games 9-12: 1-2-1, “The Plot Thickens”)
Part 4 (Games 13-16: 4-0-0, “Perfection”)
Part 5 (Games 17-20: 2-0-2, “And the Streak Goes On”)
Part 6 (Games 21-24: 2-1-1, “No Defense, No Problem”)
Part 7 (Games 25-28: 4-0-0, “The Kids are Alright”)
Part 8 (Games 29-34: 2-2-1, “Regression to a Mean”)
Part 9 (Games 35-39: 4-2-0, “Emergence of the Core”)
Overview – Game Segment 10/11 (Games 40-45)
| Season | Last Six Games | |
| Record | 27-12-5 | 2-4-0 |
| Goal Differential | +19 | -9 |
| Leading Scorer | Pacioretty (13-24-37) | Pacioretty (2-5-7) |
| Hot (L6 GP) | Galchenyuk (4-0-4) | |
| Cold (L6 GP) | Bourque (1-0-1, -3) | |
By Dan Kramer, Senior Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine
TORONTO, ON – “Even the best fall down sometimes.”
Oh how things have changed in just a dozen days in April. This past six-game segment started out on a high note back on April 11th, when a dominant 5-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres clinched a playoff spot for your Montreal Canadiens. But then the proverbial eighteen-wheeler drove off the metaphorical cliff.
It shouldn’t have been a big surprise that the Canadiens would come out flat against the Toronto Maple Leafs on a Saturday night. The Habs have struggled to combat Toronto’s physical play in recent times, and it’s normal for a team to take its foot off the accelerator a little following the clinching of a playoff spot. It was a bigger concern when – two days later – the team that has shown resiliency and bounce-back ability throughout the season was blown out yet again, this at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers. And panic set in for many in Habs nation with a third straight lopsided loss – this to the Pittsburgh Penguins – in a game where the final score was far more flattering to the team than anyone who watched the game would care to be.
Three straight losses meant added pressure for a weeknight game against a non-playoff opposition. The Habs needed to end this downward spiral, turning the game vs. Tampa Bay into a virtual “must win,” and win they did, albeit not as convincingly as some would have hoped for. Hey, baby steps, right?
As a baby learning to walk, the Canadiens would fall once more, dropping a decision by a four-goal margin for the third time in their last six outings, for a disappointing regular season Bell Centre finale. It’s hard not to see this team as a sinking ship, with few positives to draw on over this stretch, but a team couldn’t just suddenly forget everything it did so well all season up to this point, could it?! Let’s break down some specific performances for the penultimate time this season.
But first, a picture of the standings as of Tuesday, April 23rd (via NHL.com):
The Positives
A few players did manage to stand out for the right reasons during the current slump, beginning with rookie Alex Galchenyuk. He looks increasingly comfortable playing his own game, showing he can pile on points in a variety of ways, whether beating defenders with his quick hands, leveraging his frame to go hard to the net, unleashing his rocket wrister, or finding teammates with precision passes. Of course there is still work to be done before he can come close to his full potential, but his production is such that perhaps coach Michel Therrien might want to stop sheltering him so closely in offering him increased ice time moving into the post-season – particularly if the club’s scoring woes persist.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Toughness, intensity, and hard work are trademarks of captain Brian Gionta‘s game, and while he faced criticism from some observers that maybe his useful days had passed him by at some points this season, he rose to the occasion over the last stretch as one of the few bright spots offensively. Three clutch goals scored by going to the net on a team that incomprehensibly seemed to forget how critical that is to winning hockey games earned him the segment’s second star in my eyes. Montreal doesn’t have dominating offensive superstars, so it’s important to have multiple lines rolling going into the playoffs, and that’s where a productive Gionta will be key.
It looked for a while like Yannick Weber had played his last game for the Montreal Canadiens, barring an unlikely string of injuries to multiple d-men. After auditioning all of Greg Pateryn, Jarred Tinordi, and Nathan Beaulieu for a spot on D while Weber was hurt, the professional rookies seemed to have surplanted the young Swiss rearguard in the team’s depth chart. Then Davis Drewiske was brought in, further limiting any opportunity Weber had to get back in the line-up. Then, suddenly and mysteriously, midway through this past segment, Weber was given another shot. And he earns recognition here for solid play in his three games since returning, while having kept a positive attitude and strong work ethic to be ready to play as soon as the coaching staff came calling. Weber has three NHL playoff goals in just six games on his resume, so he could be of help to the team in the post-season, though it is questionable whether undertaking the playoffs with such a small defense (collectively) would be a wise move.
The Letdowns
When a team gets repeatedly annihilated as the Habs did over the past ten days, it’s easy to lay out a long list of guilty parties. But hoping to not overreact too much from this late season letdown, let’s focus in on a couple of questionable areas during the six games we’re discussing.
Throughout the season, Michel Therrien has been rightfully discussed as a potential Jack Adams candidate. The turnaround in this squad – with a similar roster – from last season has been incredible, and there certainly seems to be a different vibe around the group, at least in part attributable to the staff. That said, some decisions of late have seemed dubious at best. The lack of ice time for Alex Galchenyuk has already been mentioned. While it’s understandable the team must overplay Andrei Markov given the loss of a top four d-man in Alexei Emelin, the overplaying of Francis Bouillon has many wondering what the staff sees in him. The unwillingness to split David Desharnais from Max Pacioretty for more than a game or two – or to cut Desharnais’s ice time at all – baffles the most unbiased of observers.
And most recently, what of this system Therrien preaches? During the blowout losses, many of the team’s core players seem to be routinely running set plays and going through the motions without any heart or effort behind it. How often do we now see a forward hanging out in the high slot, and then passing the puck back to a defenseman on the powerplay, while no one is taking it on themselves to head to the front of the goal? How often do we see forwards way out ahead of their defensemen making breakouts difficult and awkward? Of course none of this can be doubtlessly blamed on Therrien, but you have to wonder if the players became overly complacent or had the team’s strategies imparted in them a little too strongly, temporarily forgetting the core elements required to be successful.
Let’s talk goaltending. The easy and obvious statement is that Carey Price and Peter Budaj need to be better than they were during the past six games. Goals are much tougher to come by in the post season than the regular season, so any single softie squeaking through can be backbreaking in a seven-game series. Price has been guilty of putting his team behind the eight ball early on, forcing his defense to take chances, and thus snowballing deficits to the point where the team can no longer return. The problem isn’t all Price, as the offense has turned anemic and the defense porous, but a goaltender is the player who can most win or lose a playoff round all on his own. Unfair amount of pressure? Sure, but it comes with the territory. If you can only fix one thing about the team, the play of the man between the pipes is it.
But to be fair, speaking of that porous defense, the current iteration of the line-up (with Davis Drewiske as a healthy scratch) has just two players who should be considered true defense-first shutdown types. It hasn’t been a banner year for either Josh Gorges or Francis Bouillon, with the past month being particularly difficult for the latter. The two became the second powerplay point unit for a while, which may have contributed to them playing outside their comfort zone, but with Yannick Weber and Raphael Diaz now back in the line-up, the time for excuses – not that they were making any; that’d be a punishable offence – is over. Gorges has been caught out of position more than at any point since coming over from San Jose, while Bouillon’s size deficiency has been increasingly noticeable of late. The short but thick blueliner has been outmuscled on a regular basis, while also struggling to clear pucks away from the danger zone. A low was perhaps his being pushed out of position by Benoit Pouliot – a player known to not use the size he was gifted with – on a Tampa Bay Lightning tally which tied the game in the third period. If the Canadiens are insisting on going with an undersized and puck-moving oriented group of d-men, they’ll need their two defensive specialists to pull their weight and then some.
The Road Ahead
Only three games remain in the 2012-13 calendar, and if the Canadiens want to avoid an early exit, there needs to be positive signs of lessons learned. The result isn’t important at this point – though the team does need to stay ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the standings to ensure home ice advantage in round one – it is the “how” in the way the team plays that is critical.
The issues with the defense and goaltending have been mentioned. But the team must also decide on the forward lines with which it is ready to go to war. Therrien’s tactic has been to revert to units that were successful in the past, hoping there might still be some magic between Desharnais and Pacioretty stowed away somewhere, or that Rene Bourque, Tomas Plekanec, and Brian Gionta can play as they did prior to Bourque’s injury.
Interestingly, he has taken the opposite approach on defense, with three new pairings that seem to hint at a balanced approach rather than overplaying a given duo. I don’t know that many would have confidence in any of the pairs – be it P.K. Subban with Francis Bouillon, Josh Gorges with Raphael Diaz, or Andrei Markov with Yannick Weber – being on the ice in the dying minutes of a close playoff matchup. If the plan is to not overtax any of the players in the remaining regular season games, then revert to top heavy duos come post-season, it’s a strategy that proves logical only if you are seeing the kind of play you hope for out of the group. What we’ve seen over the past week is that there is still plenty of work to be done, so their play over the final week of the year will be a strong indicator of the team’s chances beyond April 30th.
The sky isn’t necessarily falling. But in the words of Pierre Gauthier, the roof is leaking. Of primary importance, the team’s playoff spot was secured, and we’ve seen in the past (hint: check 1993 and 1986) that all is forgotten and forgiven come game 1 of the first round when it’s a new ball game for all teams that survived the cut.
And if it doesn’t work out? Remember that the goal for this season was to develop and provide experience to young players, building towards that strong contender of a team which is likely still a few seasons away. Dealing with success and struggles, plus getting a taste of playoff hockey, will go a long way towards helping the youth on their journey to being impact players.
Three Stars – Segment Nine
1. Alex Galchenyuk
2. Brian Gionta
3. Max Pacioretty
Three Stars – Standings through 10/11 segments
(three points for being named first star, two for second, one for third)
1. P.K. Subban – 12
2. Tomas Plekanec – 8
3. Alex Galchenyuk – 7
4. Michael Ryder – 5
4. Max Pacioretty – 5
6. Lars Eller – 4
6. Brian Gionta – 4
8. Andrei Markov – 3
8. Brendan Gallagher – 3
8. Carey Price – 3
8. Peter Budaj – 3
12. Rene Bourque – 2
12. David Desharnais – 2
14. Raphael Diaz – 1
14. Brandon Prust – 1