Tonight, the Habs received some reinforcement when Brendan Gallagher returned to action after missing 4 games because of a concussion. That is a relatively short absence which Gallagher explained by saying that the morning after the injury he was already feeling heaps better and that you never know what will happen with that type of injury. Looking at him out on the ice tonight though, there was absolutely no doubt that he was ready to come back. He logged in 17 minutes and 19 seconds of ice time, took 4 shots and dished out 2 hits. If he felt rusty, it sure didn't show but (un)fortunately, his return was not enough to lead the Habs to victory.
While the Habs dominated the first period 14 shots to 6, they only had a one goal lead to show for it thanks to Danault's 11th goal of the season. They did double it at the start of the second through a beautiful Kotkaniemi goal from the slot but those would be the only two pucks that would find their way behind Mike Smith. It took about 5 minutes for the Oilers to cut the Habs' lead in half and tonight's story might have been different had Nate Thompson managed to bury the insane scoring chance he got one on one with the goalie but the post stood in his way...After that, the 3rd frame just belonged to the Oilers who added 3 goals (the last one in an empty net) to skate away with a 4-2 win.
K🎯TKANIEMI#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/yQUEfkHNZL
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 10, 2020
This latest loss leaves the Habs in 25th place in the league standings and suffice to say that their odds of getting to draft Alexis Lafrenière are currently higher than their odds of making the playoffs. That's right, all signs point to a third year in a row with no playoffs in Montreal. The general manager, the coach and the players can say what they want but at this stage, the picture is pretty clear and come trade deadline day the Habs should be sellers. Who'll stay and who will go? We'll discuss that during the Canadiens' bye week since nothing will be happening then and we'll have a better idea of how things are shaping up.
So what's next? Well, a trip to Ottawa where the Habs will take on the 26th place Senators and will try to avoid a 9th loss in a row, a feat which has only been "achieved" twice in the team's history, in 1938 and in 1939-1940... If you're wondering, the longest losing streak ever is 12 games back in 1926, think they can manage to beat it? I wouldn't put it past them to be honest, both the players and the coach look completely defeated and like they have absolutely no idea how to get themselves out of this nightmare... Even team captain Shea Weber was speechless when interviewed by François Gagnon post game tonight. Jesperi Kotkaniemi said it best: "The losing needs to stop" (if we want to make the playoffs) but that is easier said than done. Nobody tell the kid but the fact is that most people are actually rooting for it to carry on at this point...what a time to be alive!
"The losing needs to stop."#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/TAc5HUJTMT
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 10, 2020