Canadiens: In Other News… 0-5, First Win, 21-22 Debut for Rocket, Lions

0-5 Streak Leaves Canadiens at Crossroad

The tale of Robert Johnson is one as old as music itself, that being the legendary Blues guitarist got his incredible skills by selling his soul to the Devil. Standing at the crossroads as a struggling musician and terrible guitarist, Johnson handed his guitar to a man dressed in black, who subsequently tuned it, making him a masterful guitarist. Whilst the Devil ultimately came to claim his deed, head coach Dominique Ducharme, GM Marc Bergevin, and most members of the Canadiens roster found themselves at that same crossroad, and for the longest time, it seemed like the Devil wasn’t coming.

I don’t need to go into much detail behind the Canadiens 0-5 start to the 21-22 NHL season. Try as a I might, I was unable to find time to discuss my thoughts on what was a continually dismal run, but alas, here we are. There isn’t much sugar coating needed to take away from what these first five games were. Dreadful, in every sense of the word. After a 2020-21 season that concluded with an, as stated, magical Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals, Montreal looked like a shell of that team that once was, made even more difficult by the loss of the aforementioned Price and Weber.

The two players were integral, if not essential to the Canadiens success last season, with Price in essence being the reason they went to the Cup Finals in the first place, holding down the fort in games where the Habs were heavily outshot and even further still, outmatched. Now, without Price in goal, the Canadiens have mainly been just one thing, outmatched. Even with a tough 4-1 showing against Buffalo, the Canadiens didn’t faremuch better against similar basement dwellers in the San Jose Sharks, getting crushed 5-0 off a two-goal performance from rookie Jonathan Dahlen.

Against stronger opponents, the Canadiens  looked like a fish out of water, getting similarly crushed 4-1 and 3-1 by the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers, with former Habs third overall pick Jesperi Kotkaniemi, getting his first goal with the Canes after signing a one-year, $6.1 million AAV offer sheet with them in the off-season. Yet, in spite of it all, Montreal went into their sixth game against Detroit with their heads held high, and, well, rightfully so.