Tuesday night’s heartbreaking, last minute loss at the Bell Centre gave Habs fans another painful reminder that the current Montreal Canadiens team is not the same team that played in the Stanley Cup Final 5 months ago.
Despite a spirited effort put up by the the home team with a depleted roster due to mounting injuries, the Canadiens surrendered two goals in the final three minutes, the tying marker by former Hab Corey Perry, to lose in heartbreaking fashion.
Perhaps one of Marc Bergevin’s biggest downfalls as GM of the Montreal Canadiens was his stubbornness in negotiating contracts and resulting tendency to lose valuable talent in the process, as he did with both Corey Perry and Philip Danault this year. Unwilling to give Perry the length of term he was looking for, the free agent signed with the Lightening for his preferred two year term.
Montreal’s line last year of Eric Staal in between Joel Armia and Corry Perry often controlled play in the offensive zone and were arguably one of the top 4th lines in the playoff tournament. They were 3 big bodies who gave the team outstanding depth, a balanced attack and a wealth of experience. Ryan Poehling could have replaced Eric Staal on this team and given the Habs a 4th line almost identical to last year.
Perry’s desire to always get to the area of the crease has served him well throughout his 16 plus year career. He has consistently scored goals either inside, or within 3 feet of the blue paint, and he did that very thing again Tuesday night to tie the game with less than three minutes left on the clock and Andrei Vasilevskiy pulled for an extra attacker. Perry was around the Habs net all night on Tuesday and had numerous scoring chances in the game.
The Montreal Canadiens miss many key elements from the team that eliminated, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vegas to advance to the Stanley Cup final, especially a complimentary player like Corey Perry.
Perry plays a fearless and tenacious game. He has great hands, with scoring and playmaking ability that allow him to play up and down the lineup, and he is an asset on the power play. He knows how to use his 6’ 3’’ and 206 lbs to his advantage to win puck battles, and how to get to the net to score or take away the vision of opposing goalies. Perry also brings a wealth of experience in big games and tremendous leadership skills.
Among other things they are missing, the 2021 Montreal Canadiens haven’t replaced Corry Perry’s good hands, net drive, and his voice on the bench and in the locker room. Habs fans hope Jeff gorton will be a more favourable negotiator than Marc Bergevin for the good of the team moving forward.