I think we can all agree with Michel Therrien's assessment that his team showed up to play in Ottawa, that their execution was much better than it was against St. Louis, and that they dictated the tempo of the game, but you don't have to be a genius to see the glaring mistakes that were made.
A confusion between Lars Eller, Alex Galchenyuk and Raphael Diaz left Bobby Ryan open for an easy goal--this, just 28 seconds after the Canadiens opened the scoring on the powerplay. That play developed in slow motion as Ryan pushed the puck around the boards down low to Clarke McCarthur, who saw Ryan rotating unchecked into the slot. It's one thing to run a give and go on the rush, but it's another to set one up off the cycle. It was very sloppy defensive coverage on the Canadiens' part.
If that was bad, the cookie Andrei Markov served up to Marc Methot on the game-winning goal was horrific.
And then Michel Therrien--at an automatic disadvantage as the visiting team--threw George Parros, Ryan White and Travis Moen on the ice hoping Paul McLean would oblige by offering Parros an opponent. Instead, McLean seized the opportunity to build on the momentum Methot had created with his goal, and a mere 37 seconds later, this game was practically out of reach with Mark Borowiecki cashing in for his first goal of the year.
Therrien made one critical error opting for his fourth line without knowing who they'd be matched up with, Ryan White made a couple of errors on the play that completely threw the team out of sorts in their own end.
The Canadiens powerplay--responsible for the first goal of the game--tested Lehner extensively as the second period wound down, but they couldn't find the back of the net.
Aside from the terrible mistake Markov made on the winning goal, he may have played his best game of the season. He scored, and he had the team's best scoring chances in the game after that--four of them.
Kyle Turris was able to ice the game late in the third with an empty-netter.
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1) The Habs are getting great hockey out of Tomas Plekanec, but things aren't working so well for Lars Eller right now, though he looked better with Galchenyuk and Gallagher last night (well... Galchenyuk, at least).
David Desharnais. Jeez...
2) I don't know what got into Brendan Gallagher in this one, but he looked frustrated to the point of tears. He took four bad penalties in the game. He usually brushes off the rough stuff without reservation, but it was pretty clear in the opening minutes of the game that he was going to be a major target for the Senators, and he did not respond well to that kind of treatment. And opposing coaches are going to grab that game tape and show their players how to deal with Gallagher's in your face style.
This is the time when you see how important it is to have good veterans in the room. Gallagher lives with one in Gorges.
It kind of reminds me of Brent Seabrook going to the penalty box to console Jonathan Toews in the playoffs.
3) It was a 4-1 loss that could've easily been a 4-1 win for the Canadiens. So let's not denigrate Subban's spectacular performance, noting that he played more than 27 minutes, had an assist, had nine shots and four hits by saying: "Ya the coach finally relied on him to be the horse on the blue line, and look what happened; they lost!"
4) The issues the team is having at even-strength is a cause for concern. They were lighting the lamp with ease in the early part of this season, and now the team has fallen on hard luck, offensively. Briere and Prust are on their way back to health. That's going to help, but the centres mentioned in note # 1 have to start bringing more to the table here.
5) At 8-5, the Canadiens were on the right side of .500. It was impressive. It was more than I'd have given them without Alexei Emelin. But now, the team is 8-8-1, coming off four straight losses.
I said at the beginning of this season, that
if the team was .500 without Emelin, they'd make the playoffs. They have two weeks to keep themselves afloat, and they have to know that it might also take some time for Emelin to bring what he needs to, in order to have the effect you expect him to have. The road ahead is a tough one, and the team's character will be tested.
Step one is breaking this current skid on Sunday, against the Islanders.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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