Montreal Canadiens: The three-game slide is no reason to panic
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens losing to the Ottawa Senators was their third in a row, but it’s no reason for the team to blow things out of proportion.
The Montreal Canadiens went on their third winning streak nearly two weeks ago. The Los Angeles Kings, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Washington Capitals all fell to the Habs on that run before things started to go the other way. It started with a loss to the New Jersey Devils, followed by the Blue Jackets getting their revenge and, most recently, the Ottawa Senators Wednesday night.
It is new territory for the Habs this season, though. They’ve had their losses here and there, but three in a row is the longest stretch seen so far, and the fan base, as well as members of the media, are reacting accordingly.
Montreal played a relatively dull game against the Sens, only putting up one goal. They did, however, have some jump throughout the night, and we can’t disregard the performance Craig Andersen had for Ottawa stopping 35 of 36 shots. Another positive from the night was the penalty kill, which you could argue was the best it’s looked all year going 3/3.
The Blue Jackets game saw similar scoring frustrations as the Habs only managed to put up two goals before Columbus scored three more to win the game.
Perhaps we’re seeing the impact of Jonathan Drouin not being in the lineup. Drouin was having a really steady season for the Montreal Canadiens driving play offensively but showing a much improved defensive game.
The issue seems to be that the Habs are changing their pace of play depending on who their opponents are. They play their best against top teams but take it easy on the lower talent. The three games they’ve lost to were all to teams in the depths of the Eastern Conference. It’s a matter of consistency Montreal needs to reach where they play the same way regardless of who they’re facing.
That being said, there’s no time to panic.
TSN 690’s Tony Marianro posed the question on the radio this morning, and some of the responses were very panic-flavoured. A trade may solve things, or it may not. Again, the core of the problem is the mentality of the players and sticking to the system at all times.
Next. Habs can’t take what’s happening in the NHL for granted. dark
And no, it’s not time to fire Claude Julien and hire Mike Babcock. The NHL season is a marathon, not a sprint, and the Montreal Canadiens have shown us enough to know there’s more to the story. But if they lose again on Saturday to the New York Rangers, then we may have something to talk about.