Where do the Montreal Canadiens go from here? On Tuesday night they lost 4-1 to the Boston Bruins, making it five losses in a row. The Canadiens have now been leapfrogged in the standings by the New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators. In some ways, it is amazing that it took this long for the Canadiens for the Canadiens to fall out of a playoff position. When Carey Price re-injured himself, it was thought that if the Canadiens stay around .500 team than they would still be in a solid playoff position. Had they done that they would actually still be first in the Atlantic due to other Atlantic team’s struggles. For now it seems as though the All-Star break and Carey Price’s return cannot come fast enough to the Canadiens players and coaches.
Setting aside the team’s inability to score, last week there were flashes of the team’s potential as they played their hearts out against the Chicago Blackhawks in Montreal and on the road against the St. Louis Blues. Against the Bruins, the Canadiens looked like they were on empty. They tried to stay in the game but they could not gather enough steam to really take control of the game. The giveaway by Andrei Markov in the first period to Max Talbot was a brutal one. There is no way about it. It was a mental lapse and it proved costly. However, I agree with head coach Michel Therrien that Markov does not deserve to be booed. I have no doubt that Markov is a proud man. It must be incredibly difficult not to perform up to the same level of play that we (and he) have come to expect from the longtime Hab. Accordingly though, Therrien did reduce Markov’s minutes which was not an easy feat considering Nathan Beaulieu suffered a lower body injury and left the game early.
One of the few bright spots of the game, defenceman Mark Barberio scored his first goal as a Montreal game in his 10th game of the season. He should be up with the Canadiens for the long haul now as he would have to be put on waivers should the Canadiens wish to send him back to St. John’s in the AHL. The newly acquired Victor Bradley has now been sent to the Ice Caps which leaves a roster spot open on the Canadiens. Hopefully this also indicates that any injury to Beaulieu is not too serious. The Canadiens do not play again until Saturday night when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs. Perhaps the Canadiens will call up another forward from the Ice Caps in hopes of getting some offence going.
Much has already been made of the Canadiens lack of scoring. Unfortunately the story is repetitive and the Canadiens have not been able to turn their fortunes around no matter how hard they might try. I propose that the Canadiens need to work on the 3 C’s:
Communication Consistency Confidence
So many of the Canadiens goals allowed are a result of a breakdown in communication, between the defensive pairings, between the goalie and defence and the defence and forwards. At times there have been a comedy of errors on goals allowed, when one bad decision led to an even worse one and so on. The forwards have also taken to their old habit of getting up the ice too fast and looking for a stretch pass. The defencemen need their help. The forwards must stay back and return to the short crisp passes to get out of their zone and gain entry into their opponent's end.
The Canadiens must also find a way to play consistently for a full 60 minutes. They get into trouble as soon as they let up. Or they have an all too often slow start. Or they cannot build on any momentum, be it a big save or penalty kill. The Canadiens need their four lines to start rolling and contributing. It doesn’t always have to result with a goal, but they need consistent efforts from all of their players.
Finally, somehow the Canadiens have to rediscover their confidence and get their swagger back. In the beginning of the season when things were rolling along for the team, players such as Tomas Plekanec boldly stated that the team was about more than just Carey Price. At the moment that was what he truly felt and he felt the confidence (or perhaps cockiness) to state it. The Canadiens need to get that extra oomph back in their step, on and of the ice.
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