Montreal Canadiens Drop Their 3rd Game to the New Jersey Devils

The streak continues for the Montreal Canadiens as they lose another preseason game Thursday, this time to the New Jersey Devils.

We all have to keep in mind that the preseason doesn’t mean much. It’s another opportunity for the coaching staff to evaluate players and see if there’s a potential fit on the team. As bad as it is seeing the Montreal Canadiens lose three in a row, it’s not worth too much of an uproar. That’s in regards to the result though, how they’re losing, and who is responsible for the loss is what matters here.

If you can describe the game in one word, it would be: rollercoaster. It started poorly, but the team came back with a better effort. Some players would look good at one point in the game, and then horrible later. Fact of the matter is that there were not too many things from tonight’s performance to give Habs fans any sort of reassurance.

Head coach Claude Julien seemed to agree as well. During the post-game interviews, he told reporters that, “Some players are making our decisions easier than we expected”. Sadly, it doesn’t take much extensive detective work to figure out who he was talking about.

After Thursday, there are five more games left. Meaning there are five more opportunities to show the good things that they can do. More cuts will come, and considering the Montreal Canadiens released Niki Petti, Yannick Veilleux, Stefan Leblanc, Simon Bourque, Thomas Ebbing, Antoine Waked and Tom Parisi right after the game, they can happen at any time.

That isn’t just for the prospects or the tryouts, but for the players on the main roster as well. You wouldn’t want to go into the regular season on the coach’s radar.

Thoughts and Observations

Let’s start with the positives. Three names: Brendan Gallagher, Brett Lernout, and Jakub Jerabek. For the most part, players don’t always give it their all in the preseason, because it’s the preseason. Gallagher doesn’t seem to know the difference, which just speaks to how well of a player he is.

Similarly to his game against the Boston Bruins, he was the most effective winger on the team. He was crashing the net, trying to push pucks through, all the things that make him great.

Lernout and Jerabek have continued to shine in these games. The former has been very solid for the Habs on the blue-line. Big defencemen are always attractive to have on your team, but it’s the ones who use it that are the best. Lernout uses his size to push opposing off the puck and that same size adds considerable weight to his shot.

It’s not just defence, but Lernout’s hockey sense is up there as well. Torrey Mitchell didn’t score on that breakway, but the stretch pass made by Lernout was incredible. His only wart was his play on the third New Jersey goal, as he was stripped and caught watching as Jesper Bratt scored.

Jerabek has gotten better and better each day. Before the game, Julien mentioned that they wanted to help him adapt to the NHL. He’s looked more calm and very dangerous on the power play.

The heart of the rollercoaster theme lies with Eric Gelinas. His start to the game wasn’t very good. At times he was slow, turned the puck over, and took two penalties in a row. What saved him however was scoring the Canadiens’ lone goal on the power play. It was a complete blast from the point. After that, he improved to the point where he was making those outrageous mistakes. Julien mentioned that, “He’s still in the mix”.

There are a lot of Habs fans who weren’t happy with Alex Galchenyuk‘s game. It wasn’t terrible. He had flashes of brilliance, especially on the power play. However, it didn’t look too good when he lost Nico Hischier and allowed him to get to the net to make it 2-1. The thing that’s the most concerning is the dynamic of the entire line. There hasn’t seemed to be any clear chemistry between the three, no where as near as what we’ve seen from the other lines.

Back to Julien’s, “easier decisions” comment, it falls at the feet of Michael McCarron and Jacob de La Rose, but especially at Joseph Morrow. There was a point in the first period when Morrow made two ridiculous turnovers. The first was in the defensive zone, and the other in the neutral zone. Both led to a scoring chance for the Devils. Even though he had the primary assist on the Gelinas goal, he almost lost it from holding on to it too long.

The gears are turning in the minds of Montreal Canadiens management. Even though it’s not the full roster, there are some changes that may have to be made in the future. Tune in Saturday for when the Habs play the Ottawa Senators.

Next: Phillip Danault's Next Contract

What did you think of the game? Will changes be made soon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.