Well, it's pretty clear that there wasn't a one-game solution to the problems the Canadiens have been having of late. Most obvious point of concern is beyond their net, not that Carey Price and Peter Budaj have been reassuring, but what's going on in front of them with the defensemen is almost incomprehensible.
The Habs ran through most of the regular season without much adversity. Losing Bourque and Diaz was significant. Losing Gallagher and Prust for short periods could've been very serious too. But when it came down to it, the system prevailed.
A crippling loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, in Montreal, on a Saturday night--their third in a row--provoked a tremendous revival that saw them lose once in regulation over 19 games.
But these three losses in a row, with 18 goals against, is a massive pile of adversity. And there's no lag time to get things figured out in practice.
The purely pessimistic would liken last night's performance against the Penguins to the other losses suffered to Toronto and Philadelphia, but their terrible start aside, they outscored the Penguins 4-3 in the final two periods of the game. Not that it's cause for celebration, but it required a significant effort boost to accomplish as much.
The problem is, the three goals they allowed in periods two and three were a product of terrible defensive lapses--much like the three they allowed in the first period.
Josh Gorges stood up in the room after the game and said: "blame me."
I'm sure many people around Montreal have no issue with that. Gorges has been way off the mark over this stint of games. So has Subban. So has Markov. So has Bouillon.
Michel Therrien suggested that the forwards are not supporting the defensemen very well, and it's creating holes in the defensive zone. Hard to argue with that.
Therrien also said that a response to this type of adversity is character-defining. He's right. The coach who's made every right call this season is in a situation where everything is suddenly going wrong around him. He'll have to adjust as much as his players will. He'll have to respond with calm resolve--as opposed to panicked anger--which we know has been a challenge for him in the past.
In the meantime, the team forges on against the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight. They'll have to draw on the positives of the second and third periods of last night's game. They'll have to get off to a proper start--which has been their bread and butter all season, and they'll have to find trust in each other, which is slowly being dismantled by this ugly losing skid.
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-I can't argue with those advancing that the disproportionate ice-time between Lars Eller and David Desharnais is hurting the team.
Same could be said about Alex Galchenyuk--who's red-hot--and any one of the wingers currently struggling to produce.
Therrien clearly needs to find a way to get these players more involved.
Galchenyuk at 9:45 last night--it doesn't make any sense.
But I'm a big believer that your best players have to be your best players in order for you to win consistently. And Therrien--to a fault--has been going to them in the hopes that they may seize the opportunity, because in reality, that's the best chance the Canadiens have at being a playoff threat.
That's not an offense to Eller and Galchenyuk, who are both playing better than certain members of the team that are expected to carry the load. But Therrien has to take advantage of that good play and use it to motivate the guys that aren't carrying the load they're supposed to carry.
-Tomas Plekanec could benefit from the spark Galchenyuk could bring to his line.
-Lars Eller could do more with Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher than Desharnais' offering right now--and that's not necessarily based on the offensive side of the puck. Desharnais is not doing his job in his own zone.
-When things go bad, it becomes a trust issue. When you have three guys covering the same man in the defensive zone, and they don't even shut down the scoring opportunity off that guy's stick, that's a major problem, but also a clear sign that the guys are struggling to trust each other out there.
It's a lack of focus. It's a lack of trust and communication. And it's the type of sloppiness that left the Canadiens down 3-0 in Pittsburgh last night.
You could have the best goaltenders in the world, but if they don't have a semblance for what their defensemen are doing in front of them, they too begin to distrust that someone's going to make the right play out there. They too begin to compensate for that.
-Six goals last night for Pittsburgh, all of them scored by team-members that weren't with them last season.
Talk about depth.
Talk about the system prevailing.
-Not a breath about P.K. Subban and his fight, or post-fight antics. Not a word about whatever gesture he made to Pittsburgh's bench, or whatever might have provoked such a reaction.
Subban has to pick his game back up from where it was last night. That's a large task.
-Nice effort from Gabriel Dumont last night. He scored his first NHL goal, and it was a beauty. He deserves more ice tonight.
-Nate Beaulieu was sent back to the Bulldogs. Will the Habs have Raphael Diaz back as early as tonight?
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