Montreal Canadiens: Loss against Oilers Shows Habs Biggest Weakness

On Monday, the Montreal Canadiens lost to the Edmonton Oilers 4-1, and it was the perfect microcosm of what the problem with the Canadiens is this year.

“Roll four lines. Roll four lines. Roll four lines.” That was what has been preached to fans again and again. By Marc Bergevin, Dominique Ducharme and his predecessor Claude Julien. It is a good mantra, but it hides a dark underside.

Montreal was doing okay in the game, leading 1-0 going into the third off a successful coach’s challenge from Ducharme and a goal from Eric Staal’s skate. Then, Connor McDavid happened.

The Canadiens have done a perfect job of stopping McDavid using the stick to his side like white on rice. But, as star players are want to do, McDavid broke the game open. He assisted on the first Edmonton goal, scored one for the highlight reel with his own goal, and added a second assist for good measure.

It was a game that was up for grabs. 1-0 at the end of the second, for Montreal. Obviously, you know who Oiler fans want the puck on the stick of. But who do you trust for Montreal in this situation?

This year it has been Tyler Toffoli, having scored 21 goals this season so far, but its not just due to his shoot. His shot is good, but not game breaking, its more of his knowledge of the game and good positioning.

Is it Josh Anderson? He has 15 goals this year, and when he gets going down the boards, good luck trying to stop him, but he does seem to lack consistency and  who knows if he has that X factor of the clutch gene.

Looking at all the teams above the Canadiens, they all have one or two of these game breakers or star players.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have that four headed monster up front, but it is really the Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner show.  Matthews is the best goal scorer in the league, and really even if the rest of the Leafs are pedestrian, all they have to do is keep the game close, and more likely than not, Matthews and Marner will work their magic.

Ditto with Edmonton and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.  McDavid is the best all-around offensive player in the league, but the team around him and Draisaitl are not as good as the Leafs, hence the second place.

Winnipeg has a much better balanced team compared to the Oilers and the Leafs. And part of having a balanced team means lacking those superstar players. But Kyle Connor has very quietly become a great scorer, and Connor Hellebuyck has proven to be able to steal a game or two, and has a Vezina Trophy under his belt.

Those are the type of players that the Canadiens lack. They have a handful of players that used to be that, but are now playing like shadows of their past selves.

Not much is to be said about Corey Perry and Eric Staal. These guys were stars in their hey-day, but are in the twilight of their careers. They aren’t game changers and aren’t paid to be and aren’t expected to be.

Carey Price was definitely that type of player just a few years ago. Time and time again Price has bailed the Canadiens out of games that they had no business winning. But now, the injuries and the age have taken their toll. Price is still a starting goaltender in the NHL, but one of the best and a game-breaker? I think that is a stretch.

Shea Weber is struggling through a season that seems to be perfectly made to make him seem average. Weber is an older, physical, defensive defenseman. The play-in round, short off-season, and extremely condensed schedule all work against Weber.

At one time, he could be one of the most dominant defenseman in the league, with one of, if not the, hardest shots of all time. But this year has not been good for Weber, but even without the schedule working against him, there has been a steady decline. Sometimes, he has been a game-changer, but for the wrong team.

Look at the past Stanley Cup Champions. Tampa Bay Lightning: Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Steven Stamkos. Washington Capitals: Alexander Ovechkin. Pittsburgh Penguins: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin. Chicago Blackhawks: Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews. L.A. Kings: Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick. The list goes on.

The St. Louis Blues don’t super fit the mold, but Alex Pietrangelo is still a stud and Jordan Binnington was a game breaker for that run, even if he hasn’t quite matched that height since. It was the perfect storm of every player playing their best, but obviously that is more the exception than the rule.

Sure, making the playoffs means that anything can possibly happen. The 16th seed in the league can win the Stanley Cup, but its not the norm. The general rule is that you need a star. Someone that can be called upon to put the game on his stick and be relied upon to win those close games. Montreal seems to lack that star player.

Montreal has the ability to roll four lines and that is good enough to make the play-offs. But it seems like they lack the star power to compete with the top teams in the North and NHL at large. When the four lines roll perfectly, they have been proven to be almost impossible to stop. But everyone has to be playing perfectly for it to work. But hey, anything can happen in the play-offs, right?