It is nearly impossible for a team to win a game when they only show up for the last ten minutes of a game and that is precisely what happened Friday night as the Montreal Canadiens lost 4-2 to the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre. Perhaps the team was too well rested since they previously had played Monday night and tried to take advantage of some extra rest as they only had one full practice before Friday’s game. It was fairly obvious that the team was not mentally ready to start the game as the Canadiens effort was lackadaisical and sloppy. The Canadiens took three penalties in the Sharks zone within the first seven minutes of the game and the culprits were amongst arguably their best penalty killers as Torrey Mitchell took two of the three and Paul Byron took the third. The Sharks would score two with the man advantage on Byron’s and Mitchell’s second penalty to jump out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals by David Schlemko and Patrick Marleau. Timo Meier would score his first NHL goal in his first NHL game, a feat that often seems to happen at the Bell Centre, to give the Sharks a commanding 3-0 lead.
Ideally the Canadiens coaching staff would have switched goalies at the intermission to save Price for Saturday's game in Washington against the Capitals. The likelihood is that they were hoping that the team would come out hard and strong to start the second period and perform better in front of Price. Unfortunately, Very little changed as the Sharks still dominated the play and Melker Karlsson went on to score their fourth goal just under seven minutes into the period. At this point Carey Price was indeed pulled for Al Montoya which created #Staregate as he looked down the Canadiens bench as he went into the locker room:
This is the stare everyone is asking for. Hard to tell who Price is looking at, but he's clearly not happy. pic.twitter.com/HegDzAgFKd
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 17, 2016
The switch did work though as the Canadiens slowly but surely began to improve their play. By the midway point of the third period, when any hope of a comeback should have been diminished, Brian Flynn scored to get the Canadiens on the board. Three minutes later Jeff Petry scored his fifth of the season to cut the Sharks lead in half. The Canadiens had finally arrived and come to life as it was their turn to control the tempo of play. If not for a few outstanding Martin Jones saves, the comeback might have been nearly completed as he stoned Max Pacioretty and others with less than three minutes to play. Unfortunately the comeback would ultimately come up short as the Sharks would prevail for the 4-2 win.
Perhaps the Canadiens were disheartened by the news that was announced before the game ever started that forward Andrew Shaw was belatedly suffering from concussion like symptoms and would be out of the lineup for the next few days at the very least. In the past month and a half, Shaw has proved to be invaluable to the Canadiens as he has found ways to contribute as expected by scoring and with his physicality, not to mention his versatility by taking faceoffs and ability to play center. While Sven Andrighetto would likely have been a healthy scratch in favor of Michael McCarron, he replaced Shaw in the lineup. However, it was not meant to be as he got injured at just 1:22 minutes of ice time when he awkwardly fell and would not return to the game. Andrighetto did not travel with the club to Washington and Chris Terry was recalled from the St. John’s Ice Caps. Puck props & flops:
Props:
Ummm…
Crickets…
In fairness, Michael McCarron deserves props. He was easily the Canadiens best forward in his first NHL game of the season as he had one assist, five hits, two shots, a blocked shot and a takeaway in 12:25 minutes of ice time. McCarron also earned 1:36 of power play time and played center for a few shifts, winning 50% of his faceoffs. He was physical from his first shift and never stopped playing. He is one of the few Canadiens that can look in the mirror and know that he played his best.
Al Montoya also deserves props as he came into an impossible situation replacing the pulled Price. He stopped everything that came his way and stabilized the defense.
Jeff Petry has been the Canadiens best defenseman over the past few games, stepping up as Weber has struggled. His strong play has elevated him to the top power play unit but he seemed to be constantly looking to set up Weber rather than take advantage of his own opportunities. With his goal last night, he is only two behind his career high of seven goals scored in a season in just his 29th game of the season. He and Nathan Beaulieu looked quite good together when paired for the last seven or so minutes of the game.
Flops:
Where to start? The Coaching staff - For taking it too easy on the Canadiens this week with big games on the horizon. One day off, two optionals and one real practice was not enough to prepare for the San Jose Sharks. At least head coach Michel Therrien owned up to not having his players ready to start the game:
This is the stare everyone is asking for. Hard to tell who Price is looking at, but he's clearly not happy. pic.twitter.com/HegDzAgFKd
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 17, 2016
Tomas Plekanec - Perhaps it is not fair to put the blame on him but with Alex Galchenyuk out until late January, the Canadiens really need him to step up each and every game and find ways to contribute offensively. They cannot afford to have him as the defacto number one centerman but continuing to play like a third line center. Playing with Alexander Radulov should make it easier on him but we saw in the beginning of the season that the two had very little chemistry together. Radulov played better as the game went on with Phillip Danault as his centerman.
Brendan Gallagher - He is another leader that needs to step up and provide some offense. It has never been a problem for him beforehand but now he is holding the stick too tightly and getting away from his game. He is not in the face of opposing goaltender’s nearly enough. Gallagher’s goals are not supposed to be pretty, they come as the result of hard work. I have no doubt that he will come around, but it will not be by having Torrey Mitchell as his centerman…
Shea Weber - Throughout the first 25 games of the season, Weber was absolutely outstanding and in conversation with Brent Burns as an early Norris trophy winner. Since the Canadiens first loss to the Sharks in California, his play has slightly declined. The intimidation does not seem as imminent as it once was and his shot has lost some accuracy and a little oomph. He and Alexei Emelin have formed a very good defensive, shut down unit but the Canadiens need offense. Perhaps it is time to reunite him Nathan Beaulieu who has played well for the most part since his return from injury.
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The Canadiens will have an immediate opportunity to right the ship as they take on the Capitals tonight in D.C. It would be somewhat shocking if Price does not rebound from the Sharks game but the Capitals and Alex Ovechkin are always dangerous and cannot be taken lightly. The Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 in a shootout last night. Braden Holtby will get the start in net. It will be the first time that former Canadiens Lars Eller will face his former teammates since he was dealt to Washington at the NHL draft. Eller has not had very much success so far in D.C. as he has only two goals and two assists on the season, mostly centering the third line.
Five questions for tonight’s game:
1) Will Carey Price indeed bounce back and stone the Capitals or will Braden Holtby outshine Price?
2) Former Habs players seem to always play well against their old teammates. Will Eller be able to break out of his slump against the Canadiens?
3) Will McCarron play as a centerman or winger against the Capitals?
4) Which special teams unit will have greater success, the Canadiens powerplay or penalty kill?
5) What will be the final score?
Puck drops at 7pm.
Cheers & follow along! Follow @Jenbcutler