Wow... the games follow one another and look eerily similar... You've got to wonder how they can get out of this funk... Tonight, the Habs allowed 6 goals and as RDS mentioned, it's the first time since 1983 that the Canadiens allow 5 goals or more in 3 consecutive games at home.
It's not for lack of trying mind you... They had 48 hots on goal and that's just the ones that were on target...the problem is though, the defensive play is downright atrocious. So many defensive coverage issues, so many odd men rush and breakaways... There once was a time where Habs nation could be confident when a player was skating alone towards Price but that's not the case anymore. The franchise goalie is not making the big saves anymore and that hurts so very, very bad. 29 saves on 34 shots for the netminder tonight for a .854 save percentage. This is not enough even if the Canadiens are giving way too many prime scoring opportunities. That being said, we saw flashes of the good Price in the third period but it was unfortunately too little too late...
🗣ï¸"W🛑W"#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/tSnatPuYKl
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 29, 2019
I was flabbergasted to see Brett Kulak take over Cale Fleury's spot in the line-up tonight. I cannot for the life of me understand this decision if Fleury is healthy. The young blueliner is doing some honest work out there and his physical presence is a force to be reckoned with. Why deprive yourself of that? Julien said that he's made some mistakes lately and that he's a young player but personally, I'd prefer to live with those mistakes, let the youngster make some mistakes and learn from them .
On the bright side of things, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored tonight and got himself an assist as well. This was his first goal at the Bell Centre since last February and played 13 minutes 42 seconds. Also noteworthy, both Armia and Lehkonen scored as well. I really liked Lehkonen's goal 11 seconds after the Devils took a 5-3 lead. That goal was huge and gave everyone a bit of hope...they fell short but still, they kept on trying. Unfortunately, much of that hope disappeared when Armia took a minor tripping penalty with only 4 minutes to go and while the Canadiens did kill it, they gave an empty netter shortly after.
Tous les Finlandais ont marqué, ce soir. 🇫🇮
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 29, 2019
All the Finns are on the board tonight.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/nYhYymBGqa
Julien said tonight that he's frustrated and tired of losing but that his players have got to sort out themselves defensively to hope to win. It's quite concerning that a defensive minded coach cannot seem to get this team to defend properly. Frustration seems to be everywhere on this team right now, Carey Price broke his stick after the 5th goal, Shea Weber tried to clear the front of the net and pushed a player on Price in the process and there was a few tussles between Gallagher and Subban.
The Habs will be back in action on Saturday when they host the Flyers at 15:00 before flying over for a Sunday night tilt in Boston. This weekend promises to be anything but easy and we'll keep an eye on the Canadiens' practice tomorrow morning to see if the Habs brass can come up with solutions for the team's current woes.