The Montreal Canadiens lost yet another game last night.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone who has followed the NHL, however briefly, this season. The Canadiens remain entrenched at the bottom of the NHL standings and they appear to be playing worse than even recently.
They went 1-0-2 in a three game stretch last week but allowed more than 150 shots on goal in those three games combined. Embarrassing is a word that comes timing when watching this team struggle to compete with anyone at the NHL level. But, they are professionals and they are trying to win, so perhaps calling them an embarrassment is a bit much.
Then again, that word came to mind watching the reaction, or lack thereof, when Zack Kassian ran over Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault in what was already another blowout loss for the Habs last night. Kassian is a former Canadiens winger who was unceremoniously shipped to Edmonton after… well, running into something that he should not have run into.
He did that again last night behind the Canadiens net when he chose to make significant contact with Montembeault who was out to play a loose puck. Montembeault moved the puck around the boards late in the second period of a 5-1 game. Just after releasing the puck, he was hit from behind by Kassian and sent sprawling to the ice with his helmet flying.
The embarrassing came in the complete lack of response. You see Ryan Poehling just kind of glance over and keep going. The whistle goes and then Jeff Petry arrives on scene with the same demeanour as a bored house cat. No one even looks at Kassian to suggest what he did wouldn’t be tolerated.
Now, Kassian is a tough guy and would thoroughly pound Ryan Poehling or Jeff Petry in a fight. However, someone, anyone, on the ice could have at least gave him a shove or called him a bad name or told him that wasn’t very nice.
But there was absolutely no response whatsoever. And that is embarrassing. The team knows they aren’t going to the playoffs this season, but Game 43 is a little early to completely give up and not care if your goalie gets run over by an overpaid depth winger.
At least, by the end of the third period, Michael Pezzetta stepped up to take on Kassian. It, uhh, didn’t go well for Pezzetta, but at least his teammate, who will be forced to stand in goal behind this awful team for a few more months, knows someone out there has his back.
Kassian seems to get the upper hand in the fight, but somehow comes up looking much worse for wear. Pezzetta must get a decent shot in at the start, but it is hard to say as the camera angle isn’t the best. The Habs winger gets tossed right into the net, but Kassian comes out bleeding pretty heavily above his eye.
Sometimes it is not about winning the fight in the moment, but at least showing up for a teammate. Pezzetta did that, when clearly no one else was willing to.