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In Hainsight: One to Forget |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
It’s been a year in which we’ve been able to find some positivity even in losses but last night, it was really hard to do that. From the puck drop, the ice was tilted towards the Canadiens’ net and most of the action took place in their end. The Hurricanes assaulted Samuel Montembeault’s net relentlessly and unsurprisingly, they came away with a 3-0 win. By the end of the game, By the end of the night, Rod Brind’Amour’s men had taken 50 shots on net while the Canadiens had only mustered 14 at the other end in what was perhaps Antti Raanta’s easiest shutout ever.
Even Martin St-Louis struggled to find some positives in that display, when asked by Eric Engels what the Habs could take out of this game, he simply replied: “Montembeault” and that’s not something anyone car argue with. Once again, the netminder did his best to keep his team in the game and saved 47 of 50 shots for a save percentage of .940. It would have been rather hard for him to play better than he did in such a lost cause.
During that game, the Canadiens looked very much like what they are, a tired team at the tail end of a trying season in which injuries have taken up way too much space. While it’s clear that the Canadiens are still some way away from being able to contend, it would be hard to pass judgement on a team that is so depleted and cannot use two of its top 3 forwards. Whenever your sniper and 2nd center are injured, it will be hard to compete, but even more so when a team is still trying to assemble all the pieces necessary to contend. Take those pieces away from a team like Tampa Bay and they’ll still be a formidable foe, because they’ve got so many key players, something the Canadiens do not have just yet.
Patience will be key for Habs’ fans, not just to watch the last 5 games of this season (which will also be played without David Savard now, the team confirmed last night that he has a knee injury), but probably also to withstand the next couple of years because make no mistake, this rebuild is far from over and the growing pains are just starting. In the end though, once it’s done and if everything goes according to plan, we should be left with a much more entertaining team that plays an offensive style of hockey and not one that worships its goalie and prays that he can carry them to the promise land.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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