Montreal Canadiens Road Struggles Continue in California
The Montreal Canadiens are having a tough time on their California road trip. It highlights a trend this season of not being able to score and find two points while the visiting team.
The Montreal Canadiens are leading the Atlantic Division with a 16-6-2 record. They are have the best record in the Eastern Conference and are in great shape. However, they are dominating at the Bell Centre, while struggling to get points on the road.
Currently, the Canadiens are in the midst of their annual California road trip. It is always a tough trip, as the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks have been Stanley Cup contenders for years.
The Habs weren’t dealt any favours this year from the schedule makers. Not only do they have to play the three California teams on this road trip, but it started in Detroit against the Red Wings and will end in St. Louis when they face the Blues.
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Montreal started this road trip off with a 2-1 win over the Red Wings on an overtime goal by Alex Galchenyuk. However, it was not a great performance from the team, as they were vastly outplayed by their Original Six division rivals. Carey Price carried the team to victory, and it was sealed by a great pass from Alex Radulov to Galchenyuk in the extra frame.
Montreal then headed to Anaheim and played well in the opening period. It was all for naught as the Ducks opened the scoring on a Rickard Rakell power-play goal late in the first to open the scoring.
Too Little, Too Late Becoming Road Game Theme For Habs
The Ducks took over control of the game from there and added to their lead in the second. Cam Fowler scored on a long-range shot that fooled Price and gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead heading into the third.
Montreal started to pick up the pace then, but it was too late. They got a goal from Andrew Shaw with two minutes to play, but couldn’t find the equalizer and lost 2-1. The Ducks are just too good of a team to play 30 minutes of good hockey against. Montreal was lucky it was as close as it was.
The game against the Sharks was pretty much the same story. This time, the Habs forgot to show up for the first period. The Sharks carried the play for much of the first 20 minutes and it was 2-0 when the horn sounded for the first time.
Once again, the Habs were shutout for the first 58 minutes of the game. Artturi Lehkonen got them on the board with 1:17, but it was too little, too late again. The Canadiens made it back to back 2-1 losses in California as they failed to tie the game.
With the Kings and Blues coming up on Sunday and Tuesday, the Canadiens are going to have to reverse that trend. However, it’s a trend that we have seen all season from the Habs.
Excellent Home Record Overshadows Road Struggles
Though they have a great overall record, the Canadiens are far better at home than they have been on the road this season. At the Bell Centre, the Habs are 12-1-1, but as the visitor they are just 4-5-1.
The Canadiens started the year fine on the road. In their first four games as the guest, they went 3-0-1, outscoring their opposition 14-8. Since then, the results have turned ugly. Starting with a 10-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Habs are 1-5-0 in their last six road games.
Defensively, things are still going good for the Canadiens on the road. 10-0 losses aside, the Habs have allowed 11 goals in the last five games as the visitor. However, in their 1-5-0 stint they have scored just eight goals.
If this trend continues, it won’t bite the Canadiens overall right away. They have two more games on this trip before returning home for six out of seven contests. After that, they begin their annual Christmas road trip.
The Habs embark on a seven game road trip from December 23rd to January 7th. This coincides with the World Junior Hockey Championships taking place at the Bell Centre.
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Hopefully, the Canadiens can reverse their current road trip trend before the end of the month. Otherwise, it may be a blue Christmas for Habs fans watching seven straight games of little scoring and few wins.