The Montreal Canadiens will need to dig deep and discover a 6th gear as their opponent for tonight, the Anaheim Ducks can clinch a playoff spot this evening with a win or overtime loss at the Bell Centre. The last time these two clubs met it was one of the Canadiens better games as it was a competitive, entertaining match despite the Ducks 3-2 shootout win. At this point, that is pretty much all Canadiens fans can hope for, a full 60 minutes of effort and a high compete level. For some, losses are preferable so that the Canadiens can draft higher but there needs to be some signs of life from the players.
Earlier in the season, Anaheim went through its share of struggles as they went 1-7-2 in October and had difficulty scoring. They managed to change their season around as their head coach Bruce Boudreau adapted and altered the team’s strategy to be more defensive-minded. By concentrating on keeping the goals out of their, they were able to claw their way back until finally their offence woke up. This is a strategy that the Canadiens should have copied, especially without Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher in the lineup. In October Boudreau was under a lot of heat for the Ducks poor start while Michel Therrien was getting consideration as an early front runner for the Jack Adams. Today, Boudreau should get consideration for the Coach of the Year for being able to turnaround the fortunes of his team so successfully.
In another contrast to the Canadiens, Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk spoke to the media this morning addressing their team’s inconsistent performance this season. Melnyk decided to do this despite the Senators 5-0 win over the Canadiens last Saturday. Some of his comments from this morning:
"Nobody is safe," says Melnyk. #Sens. Spoke of changes at every level.
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) March 22, 2016
Melnyk also criticized the decision to have Matt O'Connor start the home opener. "What was that about? And the guy gets clobbered." #Sens
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) March 22, 2016
I believe Habs fans would like their owner Geoff Molson to speak up and address the Canadiens season woes as well. There should be accountability from top to bottom in the organization. With the Canadiens core in their primes, Molson must know that the organization cannot afford a second wasted season in a row. Fans will come back next year but will be a little more cautious when it comes to spending their money at the Bell Centre.
Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens will suit up the same players will a minor adjustment on the bottom two lines:
#Habs lines vs #Ducks:
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) March 22, 2016
Pacioretty - Galchenyuk - Byron
Eller - Plekanec - Mitchell
Matteau - McCarron - Danault
Lessio - De la Rose - Brown
Jacob De La Rose will center the fourth line while Phillip Danault will on the right side of Michael McCarron on the 3rd. Lucas Lessio will play left wing on the fourth line. Paul Byron remains on the top line with Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty. Post-practice, Pacioretty addressed the talk of the players no longer trying:
#Habs Pacioretty defending his teammates against the notion that they aren't trying. pic.twitter.com/wTxPh3B5AR
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) March 22, 2016
The issue is that all of the players are saying the right things after practices, or post-games but that their talk is not translating on the ice. No one is expecting the Canadiens to go 9-0 in their remaining games but fans would appreciate a better effort and game, especially after the disaster of the past weekend’s losses. There is stress and pressure in every person’s job. However, the mental mistakes on the ice have been adding up and the players on ice performance is discouraging. The fans would love for the Canadiens, led by their captain to come out and compete hard tonight. Back up those words with action.
Puck drops at 7:30pm
Cheers & enjoy the game! Follow @Jenbcutler