A Winning Habit
Fansided

Montreal Canadiens Lose Game 4: No Need To Panic

By Lissa Albert

facebooktwitterreddit

MONTREAL CANADIENS Lose Game 4: No Need To Panic

Okay, so it happened. The Montreal Canadiens lost a game in this round. It isn’t shocking, really, given the ways in which they won the first three games of the series: one-goal decisions, two overtime wins, and squeaking by at times.

Habs fans had to expect it. A sweep is not an easy feat, and even the players did not discount the possibility that they would be coming back home with another game to play. Prior to Game 4, in a game-day interview, Carey Price told the Chris Hofley of the Ottawa Sun, “I’m sure [The Ottawa Senators] are going to come out with a lot of intensity, they’ve got their backs up against the wall…It’s the same story when you have any team in an elimination spot, they’re going to come out with everything they got.”

Lars Eller was quoted as saying, “We’ve only taken three little steps on a long road…I think it’s too early to talk about this series being closed out.”

The players remained – and remain – realistic. Perhaps a little moreso than fans.

Is it disappointing? Of course it is. Too many people had this series deemed a sweep (a term I threw out on social media to avoid, but was not heeded by those with visions of brooms in their heads). And no, jinxes aren’t the reason for the loss. In fact, Mat Germain outlines – very clearly – why the Habs gave up the sole goal in Game 4.

But fans had plenty of reason for that heady optimism: the team had, in fact, gotten their opponents to the brink of elimination – a precipice they are – I’d like to point out – still clinging to,  and will be until the end.

The Habs are in good shape; their next win is the series. That is always a good place to be. Of course, if you were on Twitter last night, you would have thought it was the Senators who were up 3 games with only a win to wrap it up, instead of where they are. Negativity surged, and disappointment translated to almost-anger.

This is par for the course, with Habs fans. Every win is euphoria, every win encourages confidence and optimism, and every loss – even every goal against – is tantamount to catastrophe.

More from Habs News

But let’s look back at at the beginning of the season, when the Canadiens won consistently by the skin of their teeth. They stole games from opponents, going on a run of wins and points-gathering victories that no one thought could last. In fact, it did.

And at the beginning of the season, every single two-point win – and even one-point OT losses – amounted to points in the proverbial bank. Points the Habs saved up and points that quickly catapulted them to top spot, or very close to the top, where they remained for 82 games.

This is the attitude we need to adopt now. The first three games are in the bank. Three wins in a row is a spectacular achievement, something no one expected.

Remember this: the Montreal Canadiens are no strangers to adversity

Now, those games cannot be taken away. And no matter how elated Senators’ fans are, they are still on the edge of a cliff, looking down the ice at a rock-solid goaltender in nets for the Habs, and a team that has never stayed down for long.

Can the energy of the home crowd at the Bell Centre be what the Habs need to close it out in Game 5? Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

Yesterday I posited that a 4-game streak is possible but not very likely. And it seems almost inevitable – though I will not get smug or go overboard in optimistic expectation – that the Habs will get the job done. It is simply my belief in this team and their own confidence that has continued to buoy me, alongside every other fan, with exuberence time and time again.

Remember this: the Montreal Canadiens are no strangers to adversity. They will come back in Game 5 with a better sense of desperation, a more friendly atmosphere (it DOES make a difference) and win it at home in front of their thunderous, adoring fans.

Being the superstitious being I am, I won’t even entertain thoughts of any other possibility. But no matter what, it’s the Habs who are sitting with one victory left to send their rivals home for the rest of the very long summer months. Three games is a lot to ask of one team. The Habs have already accomplished that.

Just believe.

More from A Winning Habit

Home/Habs News