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Canadiens Spiralling Out After Losses To Sharks and Kings, Ducks On Deck

October 19, 2017, 10:24 AM ET [399 Comments]
Brandon Smillie
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Montreal Canadiens are not in a good place right now after losing the first two of their 3 game California road trip to the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings by a combined score of 10-3.





Now I could say how the Habs played well and aren't getting the breaks, bounces, yada yada yada, but I'm a bit tired of saying that lately. I know their fancy stats show they have no luck but fancy stats aren't doing nothing for the utter failures of the eye ball tests. The Habs captain, Max Pacioretty, has been completely invisible. Completely. The first line hands the puck to Drouin and then hopes he can walk the entire defence. It isn't working. Pacioretty needs to take command and create.



It was good to see Galchenyuk get a shot on the top line last night in an effort to create offence. It can't get any worse for Montreal at this point so taking Alex off the "endangered species" line with Hemsky and giving him the chance we all felt he should have had all along was good to see. I hope we see him with Drouin for most of the season at this point.

Speaking of Hemsky... *grooooaaaaannnn*. This mutual termination can't come soon enough. I was never a fan of the signing. Hemsky can't keep up and he has the drive of a debt ridden Vanek on the ice, minus the hands.

I'm wondering if it's worth exploring some of last years line set ups like putting Danault up with Pacioretty, who seems to work best with 2nd/3rd line centers. Maybe put out a second line with Drouin centering Galchenyuk?

Hemsky has to go with Scherbak/Terry/McCarron/Waked/Froese getting called up for a shot. Get some hungry, young players in there and see what they can bring.

Morrow has to go. He is not good in his own zone and while shows he may have some offence there, he's not making good decisions offensively. I think there was a sequence last night with the Habs coming in on a 4 on 2, the puck went to Morrow on the right side while two guys drove the net and he should have passed across for a one timer. Get the goalie moving. But instead he telegraphed a useless shot and killed the play. These types of decisions aren't helping.



Sorry coach. I disagree. I understand Julien defends his players illogically and I would want my coach to do that in the media too. Give them nothing to run with to draw negative press to your players. Great in that regard. But Montoya fought the puck all night and while he made the saves he needed to for two periods, when the 3rd period hit his Cinderella story was up and he wasn't winning the battles with puck tracking. I was all for Montoya starting this game. Price needed to sit and take one in, maybe two if they won, but this is the same Montoya from last year and the preseason. He isn't going to help with winning many relief games at all and I think it may be time to see what Lindgren can do. Like I said earlier, it can't get any worse and I think Lindgren is an excellent goaltender who's time is coming with the Habs or elsewhere.

I was thinking to myself last night that if Pacioretty can't create by himself then is he an impact player? We were all disappointed with his playoff performances but the guy scores almost 40 a year so it wasn't realistic to say "deal him". However, if he doesn't make things happen on his own can we really call him an impact player? I really was thinking that if this is the case and he is due a massive raise then is it the right time to explore the trade option? There's no doubt that trading right now is likely the worst thing to do. You're almost assured no one will pay you a decent value so the Habs have to ride it out completely until someone steps up with a big offer, if anyone steps up. But as we have seen in Colorado, GM's aren't helping other GM's while their ship is sinking. They keep tossing them anchors while trying to loot the corpse. So, while it is likely the Habs won't be making any moves for a while I think it may be time for calls on Pacioretty to be taken seriously and see if anyone is willing to pay.



The Canadiens are entering historically bad territory at this point and there isn't anything on the horizon to suggest that will change. The only thing to do is either soldier on with similar lines and wait for guys to get used to playing together and for guys to start finishing (looking at you Hudon and Lehkonen) or put the lines in the blender and see what happens on a day to day basis. It would also help if Carey Price could bounce back sooner rather than later and steal a game or two in a row to force some confidence into the team.

The Canadiens next game is against the Anaheim Ducks this Friday, October 20th. The Habs are .500 lifetime at the Honda Centre so it's not completely off that table that they pull one out. But history aside, they will be hard pressed to not be shut out the way they are playing. I truly expected some better adjustments at this point with Julien and Muller behind the bench. Hopefully it's coming but until we see that "2" in the win column I'm just going hope one of these good starts can continue for 60 minutes instead of stopping at 40.

One thing that may work in the Habs favour on Friday is that Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf has missed 4 of the Ducks 6 games this season with a lower body injury that the team won't give any information on. He didn't practise yesterday an his status for Friday is uncertain at this point. I feel that with the Canadiens (and my own luck) luck he will miraculously return tomorrow, but as of this moment he is out and that's a huge blow to the Ducks offence. I said it about the Sharks and I'll say it again, it could be a good opportunity to grab a win against a fellow struggling team as the Ducks who are 2-3-1 and have lost 2 in a row. Say your prayers and cross your fingers folks, the Habs need all the luck they can get.

If this is the season the Habs are destined to endure at least there could be light at the end of the tunnel with elite talent like Dahlen and Svechnikov headlining the draft class. I know it's early, but it is a pretty good positive if the season keeps spiralling out.



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