The Montreal Canadiens weren't outclassed tonight, they gave themselves a chance to win, but the New Jersey Devils won 5-3, meaning the Habs have now lost five games in a row.
If the Montreal Canadiens stayed away from the P word before the start of the 2022-23 season this year, they were not shy of saying they wanted "to be in the mix." Although it looks like they won't quite make the playoffs, they are at least playing competitive hockey for longer this time around. After 10 games, they are last in their division and 30th in the league.
Tonight, against the New Jersey Devils, they once again found themselves down by two after the first frame, and they couldn't fully recover. At the final buzzer, the score was 5-3 for the host, and one has to wonder if the Canadiens are not getting too used to losing.
This was Montreal's fifth loss in a row; I know the one against Calgary on Tuesday night was in overtime, but to me, a loss is a loss extra point or not. In 14 games thus far this season, Martin St-Louis' men already have a four-game losing streak and a five-game one. It's getting to the point where one can ask if it's just becoming a habit for them.
Shoot yourself in the foot, dig yourself in a hole, get mixed up in the defensive zone, lose, and rinse and repeat. What's worrying is not necessarily the number of losses but the fact that the same mistakes are repeated repeatedly.
When you've only given eight shots in the first 20 minutes, you shouldn't be going back to the dressing room down by two; it's as simple as that. The goaltending, which has historically been a strength for the Tricolore, is now nothing short of a concern. Montembeault gave four goals on 26 shots tonight, which means he had a .846 save percentage. This is the NHL; you won't win often when your goaltender doesn't stop 90% of the shots.
That being said, the blame cannot all be laid at the netminder's door. The defensive system is not helping. St-Louis wants his team to use a hybrid defense system, combining a man-to-man and a zone scheme. The issue is that the players do not appear to understand when they need to switch from one to the other, leading to deficient defensive coverage.
Given that they were playing against a very good attacking side tonight, the Canadiens couldn't hope to neutralize the likes of Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. The former gathered a goal and two assists, while the latter obtained two goals and an assist. What's worrying, though, is that some of the Canadiens' players looked resigned to losing, and that's never good for a team that's meant to be learning how to win.
In the defeat, Brendan Gallagher scored the 224th goal of his career, bringing him within one goal of Stephane Richer's 225 lamplighters and 19th place in franchise history. Once again, the diminutive warrior went to the net, and it paid off.
Full marks tonight for Alex Newhook, who scored a brace and landed three hits. He was so effective that he even had more ice time than resident snipper Cole Caufield. The Canadiens will need to shake off this new defeat quickly, as they'll be back in action on Saturday night in Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs.
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