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Therrien and Habs drop the ball in Calgary |
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Seems playing in Calgary is an exercise in futility for the Canadiens--losers since 2002 at the Saddledome. They certainly started the game as though there was no hope to win it. No cohesion in the offensive end, terribly vulnerable in the defensive end, and a total lack of focus and attention to detail by the players on the ice on first two Calgary goals of the game.
If the Habs were a 3/10 in the first period, they were marginally better in the second, and they were an unchained prisoner in the third. All that velocity and momentum netted them two out of three goals they needed to tie the game, and P.K. Subban--who was so instrumental in getting them to that point--let selfishness get the better of him in taking a terrible penalty with less than two minutes left.
Subban took full responsibility after the game for his indiscipline, but the loss certainly doesn't fall on his shoulders. Not sure Michel Therrien could say the same.
The coach's insistence on leaving Subban off the penalty kill continues to fluster the entire fanbase--and Subban's overall use seemed to frustrate him last night. Therrien's use of David Desharnais for even a second more than Lars Eller (last night it was 33 seconds) is beyond justification, especially after he finally admitted that Eller deserved that ice time.
And then there's the comment Subban makes at intermission about the team's preparedness for the game. I'm not sure Subban's comment was intended to be a veiled insult to Therrien and the coaching staff, in fact, I'm fairly certain it was directed at the team's leaders and at the overall lack of execution at what he labeled as a "bad practice", but it certainly invites the inference that there's a riff between the two.
Going back to the Philadelphia game, Subban played more than 28:00. If he doesn't spend 4:00 in the box last night, maybe Subban's up around 26:00. Instead, he was at 22:05, and he missed an entire rotation of shifts in the first period after he was a part of a terrible defensive lapse by all five guys on the ice for the first goal against. There wasn't any question that frustration set in for him, and he got caught trying to do too much out there, resulting in his first penalty. Not much of an excuse for his second one.
Josh Gorges was having an atrocious night before only playing 20 seconds in the third. Therrien admitted afterwards that Gorges wasn't at 100%. And if Gorges can't go tonight, what will that mean for Andrei Markov, who played a team-leading 27:23 in Calgary?
The team has Nathan Beaulieu at its disposal for tonight's game if need be, but it's hard to argue he'd be the remedy to the team's defensive struggle, should Gorges not be ready to go. More ice-time for Diaz isn't the answer either. At a certain point, Therrien's going to have to let Subban loose and let him know that he'll be depended on as the team's defensive anchor. Otherwise, Therrien risks furthering Subban's mentality that he's gotta do more than what he should to earn the trust of his coach.
Give Joey MacDonald credit for making this a harder game for the Canadiens than it should've been. He made some outstanding saves--none better than the two on Markov that would've changed the momentum of the game early on, had one of them squeaked by. But Therrien must take responsibility for the rest of it; for the way his team started the game, to the way he deployed his soldiers, the recipe was a failure.
Regardless, the Canadiens take a bad loss with them to Edmonton, where they'll face a team that's also lost two of their first three games.
Peter Budaj is likely to get the nod.
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-Lars Eller definitely deserved more, and he got it in the third period. Hate to say it, but his linemates weren't on the same level as he was last night. Brendan Gallagher looked a step shy of the speed we're accustomed to seeing. Alex Galchenyuk was largely kept to the perimeter last night. Not to say either of them were bad, but it certainly wasn't their best game of the three they've played this year.
-Tomas Plekanec's line was a no-show, even when things tilted towards the Flames end of the ice for the second half of the game.
-David Desharnais and Daniel Briere came alive in the third period, but not enough to give the Canadiens a goal. After the coach called out their effort level, Therrien obviously wanted to test the line out. Ice-time allotment will really be something to complain about, if Therrien insists on making that his number one line tonight, in Edmonton.
-Some people had the audacity to point the finger at Price for allowing two goals on the first five shots he faced last night.
Strike the giveaway by Travis Moen off the board, there was still time to recover on that play. Gorges, playing a 2-on-1 by doing exactly what you want to avoid as a defensman in that situation--getting caught right in the middle instead of taking away the pass option--let Price down. Price was there to recover by making the initial stop. Subban didn't have time to get back and push Sean Monahan off the tap-in.
The second goal is a ridiculous comedy of errors on Gorges' behalf. He gets caught on a long shift. Prust is forced to reverse it. Gorges has time to make a hard play, but instead, softly bobbles it over to Tinordi who was sacked on the play. Gorges' attempt at recovery is another lack of focus as he edges towards the puck instead of staying with his man at the backdoor.
As a defenseman, you have to trust that your goalie is going to make the save and take away the passing options in odd-man situations. Gorges failed at that twice.
-Rene Bourque dressed for his 500th game, he just didn't play it. He who was demoted to the fourth line at a certain point.
-What goes through your mind when you see Francis Bouillon on the ice with Raphael Diaz? Better yet, what goes through the opponent's mind when they see it?
For all the depth the Canadiens have on the blueline, the loss of Alexei Emelin is magnified. What he brings is exactly what's missing, and that's no slight at Jarred Tinordi who's not being asked to fully fill that role.
-Not hard to predict that Michael Bournival will draw into the lineup tonight. The question is, where will Therrien put him?
If there's any method to Therrien's madness, Desharnais' hanging himself with all that rope he's been given, and maybe he gets a demotion against Edmonton. Is it too early to try Briere at centre with a couple of wingers in Pacioretty and Bournival that can make a difference?
-In the final 18 games of last season, Briere played more than 16:30 in three of them. In those games, he was -5, and he put up zeros in nearly every offensive category. So far, Briere has played more than 16:30 in two of the three games the Habs have had. If his play doesn't dramatically improve between now and the time the Canadiens make it back to Montreal, he's probably aware of how that's going to play out with the fans.
Lars Eller's line deserves the opportunity to carry the team as its top line, but Therrien knows he's not going to get the amount of wins he needs if he can't depend on his other units. The internal competition is supposed to generate more from this group, and that's being put to the test very early on this season.
-The Habs were a perfect 5-0 in the second half of back-to-backs last season.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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