Josh’s Take: Montreal Canadiens visit the Blue Jackets
The Montreal Canadiens played their most important game of the season on Thursday night in Columbus. With the Columbus Blue Jackets trailing Montreal in the standings by two points and also holding a game in hand, the Canadiens could not afford to lose this game. In today’s Josh’s Take, I take a look at what went wrong in Columbus and what it means for the Canadiens going forward.
The first period started perfectly for the Montreal Canadiens, with Brett Kulak letting one go from the right point at 1:15. With the recent play of Sergei Bobrovsky, getting the first one by him early definitely does not hurt! The Canadiens played a great start to the game by really limiting the Blue Jackets‘ chances throughout the first ten minutes.
I found that Les Glorieux did a very good job of keeping their sticks in the passing and shooting lanes, clearly frustrating the Jackets as they struggled to establish themselves in the offensive zone. Shea Weber took a holding penalty at 17:15 of the first and the Canadiens penalty kill unit went to work.
The Canadiens’ play at 5-on-5 continued while killing the penalty; I found that the team did a great job of working as a 4-man unit, again keeping their sticks in the passing lanes not allowing the Blue Jackets a shot on net during their powerplay. In fact, Joel Armia had some significant chances in the offensive zone during the penalty kill. It’s always better for a penalty-killing unit to spend some time in the other team’s zone!
Montreal had a very good road period in the first twenty, leaving the period with a 1-0 lead and a 9-7 advantage in the shots department. Number of times the cannon was fired: 0! Just the way we like it!
Okay, time now for the second period. If the Canadiens dominated the first period and played a great period, the Columbus Blue Jackets turned around and played a great second period. The Canadiens spent most of the middle frame on their heels and chasing the play. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during the first intermission to hear what John Tortorella had to say about his team’s first period.
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Well, whatever he said to them clearly worked. The first goal Columbus scored had me yelling at the television. An absolute garbage line change by the Canadiens let the Jackets skate in the zone on five on 2, and David Savard had all the time in the world to fire the equalizer past Carey Price. Absolutely discouraging! I don’t know what Max Domi was thinking just hanging around in the Jackets’ zone waiting for some miracle pass that would allow him to be one on one with Bobrovsky.
Needless to say, that the pass never came and the puck ended in the back of the Canadiens’ net. Jeff Petry tied it up with just over ten minutes to play in the period, and things were looking up. Not the case, with Oliver Bjorkstrand and Artemi Panarin, scored less than three minutes apart. Nothing Carey Price could have done on any of those goals; the Canadiens needed to improve their defensive play in front of their netminder.
Oh, and spending more time in the offensive zone might not hurt either! The Blue Jackets also really turned up their physical play in this period. At times the Jackets look like human wrecking balls out there, just hitting everything in sight! With that increased physicality, I thought there were some penalties that weren’t called against the home team; the big one was a high stick on Max Domi that went uncalled. It would be an understatement to say that Domi was not happy with that missed penalty!
Numbers after the second period: Columbus leading 3-2, shots 11-8 in favour of Columbus, times the cannon was fired: 3. Not good!
Heading into the third period, I was hoping/wishing/expecting that the Canadiens would be able to return to their style of play from the first period. That was not the case. What took place in the second period carried into the third period. I won’t even waste my time and my energy talking about what happened in the third period. If you’re unsure, read what I said about the second period! What I do want to talk about is the overall game. Anyone who has listened to me on my podcast knows how emotional and passionate I can get sometimes. Well, more of the same coming at you right now!
Saying that the team showed up with a poor effort would be a great understatement! The way the team has played in the last week, I felt confident that they were playing some of their best hockey at the right time of the year. Well, it can all come down to tonight.
This game against the Columbus Blue Jackets could have been considered the one game that would get them into the playoffs. With a win tonight the Canadiens would have been in the driver’s seat for the remainder of the season. The Montreal Canadiens did not show up tonight, and there is absolutely no excuse for it!
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The coaching staff clearly wasn’t ready for the game. The trainers weren’t ready. The players weren’t ready. I’m thinking even the bus driver wasn’t ready! There is no excuse for a performance like the one last night in a game that mattered so much! Oh, right I already said that. I DON’T CARE! Every member of the Canadiens’ fanbase should be livid with this piss poor effort!
So, let’s take a look at what exactly I am talking about. This wasn’t a case of being out-skilled (pay no attention to the score), this game was a case of being outworked! The amount of one-on-one battles that were lost by the Canadiens is insane! There is no excuse for being outworked in a game like this one. None!
Every member of the Canadiens’ organization knew how important this game was, EVERYONE! The fact that they were constantly on the wrong ends of puck battles and would get beaten to loose pucks is inexcusable. I can understand losing when you outwor the other team but couldn’t score. AT LEAST YOU TRIED! Not last night. Not the game that I was watching.
Going even further than losing puck battles, the Montreal Canadiens were guilty of so many unforced turnovers that led to Columbus gaining more and more momentum and increased offensive zone time. The Habs were flat from the moment the second period started, and they kept shooting themselves in the feet whenever they tried to accomplish the simplest of plays.
I don’t even want to think about how many passes weren’t successful. I mean they probably couldn’t have passed more pucks in other skaters’ feet if they had tried! Unforced mental errors are inexcusable in a game like the one last night. Time to move on Josh, you’re getting upset again!
Okay, maybe not. I’m not quite done just yet! If what I have listed already wasn’t enough, the Montreal Canadiens seemed lost every time they were in the defensive zone. I spoke about unforced errors and bad passes, well most of those came in the defensive zone! The inability to clear the zone for extended periods of time led to the loss of one-on-one battles and battles for loose pucks. The Blue Jackets were faster than the Canadiens last night. They worked harder than the Canadiens last night. They wanted the win more than the Canadiens last night!
With the loss last night, the Canadiens’ chances to make the playoffs just got significantly lower! The Blue Jackets and the Canadiens are now tied in the standings but let’s not forget that Columbus has one game in hand. Oh, as if that wasn’t enough the Jackets also hold the tie-breaker! The players should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for their effort last night! There is never an excuse for being out-worked! Just a garbage effort!
I could go on, but I am getting too upset that I shouldn’t! I will talk about this type of game more in future posts and future episodes of my podcast, but right now I can’t even come up with the words to describe it! Oh yeah, that stupid cannon! Man do I hate that stupid cannon! It was fired way too often last night!
Just a poor effort by every member of the Montreal Canadiens organization last night. Absolute garbage and absolutely no excuse for it! They need to be so much better if they want to even have a shot at making the playoffs! It’s not like the Habs’ schedule is going to get easier! More on the remaining games in future posts. I’ve had enough, for now, I need to go scream into my pillow!
30 Goals for Tatar and Domi. dark. Next
Josh’s Three Stars
- Oliver Bjorkstrand
- The cannon operator
- The Zamboni driver
Hardest Worker: Each and every fan that sat through the entire game