Marc Dumont
Of the now 10 losses the Montreal Canadiens have suffered so far this year, last night’s 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights had to hurt the most.
After arguably their best period of the season gave them a two-goal lead and a 16-1 shot advantage, even the most pessimistic of Habs fans had to have been feeling good going into the final 40 minutes. Especially against a Vegas team without Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty and William Karlsson. Not to mention Alex Tuch, traded to Buffalo as part of the Jack Eichel deal on Thursday.
12 minutes, two failed penalty-kills and seven shots against later and the Montreal Canadiens were on their way to another dejecting loss.
Yes, it’s just been that kind of season so far for this club. They can’t have nice things. Even in the rare moments when they have deserved them.
Can’t stop the bleeding
While the club have looked laughingly awful at times this time, last night was more tragedy than comedy. The Habs are doing what bad teams do: they find ways to lose. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck then it’s a fragile, rudderless hockey team waiting for the next calamity to happen before inevitably collapsing.
Or something like that.
To put it simply, the Montreal Canadiens played well and lost. For the majority of NHL teams there would be a shrug of the shoulders, a good night’s sleep and the sun would come out tomorrow.
But when you factor in the franchise’s worst start to a season in 70 years and the third-worst record in the NHL, it must feel as though the weight of the world is on the shoulders of the boys in bleu, blanc et rouge.
“It changes everything,” admitted Jake Allen when asked how the team’s record affects how he viewed the loss post-game. “To be 3-10 it’s a little bit different. If we were right there, around the .500 mark… But it’s tougher to take right now when you’re looking up at the teams ahead of you and we’re 3-10 and we know we have a good hockey team here.”
Here are your five takeaways from the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights
Slick Nick Suzuki
It wouldn’t be out of order to suggest that Nick Suzuki’s start to the season has been underwhelming. Like the team at large we’ve seen flashes of his talent but it doesn’t seem as though he’s gotten out of first gear. And yet with his goal and assist last night, the Habs centreman now has 12 points in his last nine games and is on pace to surpass his career-high.
In a season that looks increasingly likely to end in early April, Suzuki’s development will be something that fans will continue to watch with keen interest. If he were able to kick it up a notch and break the 70-point plateau at the age of 22 that would be seen as a major win for a fanbase that looks set to watch a fair bit of losing this year.
His linemates last night, Tyler Toffoli and Brendan Gallagher, have only recently begun rounding into form as well. They haven’t been anywhere near as consistent as Jonathan Drouin, Mike Hoffman or Josh Anderson so far this season. If Suzuki were able to establish some proper chemistry with one or both of those three players, his point totals could really take off in his third season in the show.
In Praise of Mike Hoffman
Based on the way his game was described after he signed his three-year, $13.5 million dollar contract in the summer, he was supposed to be a one-trick pony. A power-play specialist and nothing more. Well, he has turned that narrative on it’s head.
That’s not to say that he hasn’t been appreciated there. Two of his four goals so far this season have been on the Habs pitiful man-advantage. He is always a threat to score from his spot just above the right circle.
But it’s his style of play at 5-on-5 that has been most impressive. Hoffman has been responsible defensively, gets to the inside offensively and has more vision than had been previously described.
He is both direct and decisive. He doesn’t overthink what he wants to do in any given moment. Which to be fair is mostly shoot. Once his mind is made up as to how he plans to attack, he puts his head down and gets to it. Considering that he missed all of training camp and pre-season with a lower-body injury, it is a credit to him that he has hit the ground running with his new club.
Sadly, it was he who summed up the Canadiens horrendous start to the year in gif form last night
https://twitter.com/TheTylerKasch/status/1457163522899513345
The puzzling Mr. Petry
Jeff Petry’s struggles to start the season have been well documented. The Montreal Canadiens defenceman only has two points so far this season. A far cry from what many expected of him considering he’s played his best hockey with Shea Weber out of the lineup.
If you were to describe Petry’s performance in last night’s 5-2 loss to Vegas, it would be the wrong last decision. Passing when he should be shooting. Letting it rip when someone else was wide open. This was most apparent on the power-play in the first period. Petry passed up several chances to set teammates up, choosing instead to wire shots at Vegas shin pads. With fairly predictable results. It’s one of the reason why he can’t be depended on as a power-play quarterback.
Defensively, he and Ben Chiarot were much better albeit against an understaffed Golden Knights forward corps. But on a team that lacks any kind of offensive thrust from the blueline, he does have to provide value to the team going forward. The longer he fails to produce, the better chance the Habs fail to win. It’s that simple.
Who can they beat?
Seriously. The Montreal Canadiens have beat one team not named the Red Wings this season. They only play Detroit one more time this year. So mark Nov.13th on your respective calendars.
Consider what we know about the Habs this year and previous versions of the team. For whatever reason, the team tends to play down to what they consider lesser opponents. So this month alone expect losses to the Kings, Sabres and Predators.
The Canadiens also tend to raise their compete level against teams that are far and away superior to them. Again expect hard fought losses to the Penguins twice, the Capitals and Flames.
Based on this extremely scientific analysis, the Habs have a chance to win three of the remaining 11 games this month. So beware the Bruins, Rangers and Red Wings! The Canadiens are coming!
Maybe.
The point is if this team couldn’t help but collapse against the skin and bones of the Vegas lineup, what confidence can anyone have as to what to expect from them the rest of the way?
Killed by the kill
Now for some comedy. After all, if you can’t laugh you’ll cry. The Golden Knights rolled into the Bell Centre last night as the only team yet to score a goal on the power-play.
Well, start slapping your collective knees. Of course the Habs were the team to allow Vegas to get off the schneid on the man advantage.
To be fair Alex Pietrangelo’s first deflected off the skate of Petry and past a screened Jake Allen. Those kind of unfortunate bounces can happen. But what would prove to be the game-winner by Dylan Coghlan was symptomatic of a penalty kill that continues to be shambolic. Instead of the Habs forwards being tasked with closing down the Golden Knights perimeter shooters, the coaching staff continues to insist on defencemen coming out to challenge near the faceoff dots.
That has led to several goals from seemingly the exact same spot on the ice. On repeat. What’s the definition of insanity again? It appears as though the Canadiens coaching staff will continue to shove their heads into the sand rather than acknowledge that there is some fatal flaw in their configuration.
