A Winning Habit
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Despite Signs of Improvement, Canadiens Offensive Woes Continue

By Scott Cowan

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 18: Carter Hart #79 of the Philadelphia Flyers stops a shot against Artturi Lehkonen #62 of the Montreal Canadiens during the third period in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 18, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 18: Carter Hart #79 of the Philadelphia Flyers stops a shot against Artturi Lehkonen #62 of the Montreal Canadiens during the third period in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 18, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
TORONTO, ONTARIO – AUGUST 14: Montreal Canadiens Philadelphia Flyers (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

Regular-season leading scorer this year, Tomas Tatar, has just two goals through the Habs first seven games. Consistent 30 goal man Brendan Gallagher can’t buy a goal in these playoffs, failing to score at all while posting three assists. Jonathan Drouin, who battled injuries through most of this regular season, has just a goal and two assists and has been a liability on the ice more times than not.

In the regular season, the Flyers and the Canadiens had the same number of 40-point players, six, yet look entirely different in this series. While Philadelphia’s offense hasn’t been great, it’s done what it’s needed to do, while playing behind a stingy defense that tends to swallow up high danger scoring chances. Backup goalie Brian Elliott faced just 17 shots in his only start thus far, while it’s unlikely Charlie Lindgren sees any action should this series continue.

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There’s no denying that the Canadiens have players who can score, yet for most of this regular season and the playoffs, they’ve consistently struggled to do just that. A mix of depth scoring and a brilliant performance from Carey Price was what carried the Canadiens to just barely missing the playoffs by two points last year, with Max Domi posting a career-high 72 points and Phillip Danault posting his first 50-point season.

So far in these playoffs, Domi and Danault have combined for just 5 assists, with Domi consistently being slotted in the team’s bottom-six with Jake Evans, Alex Belzile, or Dale Weise.

Against Pittsburgh, Montreal had the benefit of playing against a rusty Penguins team who were enduring a horrible stretch of play before the league suspended play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For the most part, Pittsburgh simply looked unfocused and unmotivated, with star forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin failing to do much in the series.

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