A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens Three Stars vs Ottawa Senators

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 04: Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates a first period goal with teammates on the bench against the Ottawa Senators during the first period at the Bell Centre on February 4, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 04: Brendan Gallagher #11 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates a first period goal with teammates on the bench against the Ottawa Senators during the first period at the Bell Centre on February 4, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 04: Josh Anderson Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – FEBRUARY 04: Josh Anderson Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

The Montreal Canadiens were sitting atop the NHL standings heading into last night’s contest. A dismantling of the Vancouver Canucks and success against the Edmonton Oilers were the biggest reasons for that status.

The Habs went out on a six game road trip to begin the year and went 4-0-2 in that time. Returning home, they split a pair of games with the Calgary Flames, and then beat the Canucks twice at the Bell Centre.

A 7-1-2 record and a date with the worst team in the league should have made for an easy two points.

However, it didn’t start that way. The Habs did take a 1-0 lead and looked to be in full control of the scoring chances. Brendan Gallagher knocked in a rebound in tight with assists going to his linemates, Phillip Danault and Tomas Tatar. The Habs maintained that lead until the Senators scored a pair of goals in the final minute of the period.

The second period was the worst we have seen from the Canadiens this season by a wide margin.

The Senators scored again to make it 3-1 and the Habs just kind of stood around and were lucky it wasn’t worse. If you told someone that the top team in the league standings was playing the worst team in the league, they’d quickly point out that the Canadiens do look like the worst team in the league.

The Canadiens could hardly get a puck on net, could barely complete two passes in a row and could barely stay onside. It was abysmal.

The third period was a little better, but the Canadiens couldn’t muster enough of an attack to tie the game. A late shorthanded goal by Josh Anderson pulled them within one, but a high sticking penalty to Ben Chiarot and a brutal boarding call on Tomas Tatar in the final few minutes made it impossible to mount a comeback.

Of course, they shouldn’t have been losing to the worst NHL team in the league to begin with.

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