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 18: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

A few costly turnovers, like Brandon Tanev‘s middle of the ice pass that led to the series-winning goal by Arturri Lehkonen, didn’t help too much either. While the Habs did play a fantastic series, with Paul Byron continuing to showcase his return to form after a slow start to this season, they weren’t facing the same Pittsburgh Penguins we’ve come to expect over the last few years.

The Flyers transition from mediocre at best last year to a solid contender this year is impressive, to say the least, and it seems as though the Flyers have enough pieces in place where they should have a solid team for the future.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Nick Suzuki have shown tremendous promise for the Habs in these playoffs, and it’s clear to see they’re on their way to becoming solid NHL players, but they’re still young and are settling into they’re respective role. Kotkaniemi’s four goals in these playoffs are promising, and Suzuki’s improvements to his two-way game are noticeable.

It’ll be interesting to see how things play out, with Montreal set to face the Flyers in game five on Wednesday night. With they’re backs now against the wall down 3-1 in the series, the Canadiens will need to turn to all the pieces available to them should they look to turn the tide and make this a series once more.

Coming back from being down 3-1 is one of the toughest tasks in the Stanley Cup playoffs, but if history has shown us anything, its to never count out the underdog. With the lack of offense displayed by Montreal so far in these playoffs though, these underdogs certainly have,

A tough task ahead of them.

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