Canadiens: Win Or Lose, Team Will Have To Figure Out Defensive Woes

Less than 24 hours after Carey Price made his much anticipated return, the Canadiens were back on the Bell Center ice. This time, it was Samuel Montembeault who would get the nod against Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

The Canadiens got crushed 8-4 in a game that was never really close. The Canadiens gave up 40 shots for the 20th time this season, a statistic that will definitely need to be improved on and also a possible cause to the injuries to Montembeault and Jake Allen.

This was also the Habs’ 5th consecutive loss, the first in the Martin St. Louis era, and the team has been outscored 23-9 during that stretch.

Yes, the team needs to lose in order to get the best possible draft pick this upcoming summer. One that will be of the outmost importance as not only will this be Kent Hughes’ first draft, but the event will be taking place in Montreal.

The team is definitely feeling the effects of not having Ben Chiarot and Brett Kulak. However, this is also a situation where Martin St. Louis will have to adjust his “run and gun” type of play in order to protect the goaltender from being blasted with an insane amount of shots.

Last night’s defensive corp was a rare opportunity to look at the personnel that will likely start the next season. Alexander Romanov, Joel Edmundson, Corey Schueneman and David Savard will likely round up the top four. Jeff Petry should be all but gone while Chris Wideman’s status is up in the air despite his solid season, but many teammates have expressed their wishes for his return.

The blue line lacks discipline and does not have the necessary skill to lead an offensive rush deep in the opponent’s zone. Not to mention it lacks speed to play a man-to-man style which St. Louis has approached obsessively since the beginning of his tenure as head coach.

St. Louis and his assistants are going to have to learn to adapt to the roster that’s in front of him. You won’t be able to rely on your goaltenders blocking 40+ shots every night, nor will you be able to rely only on Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield to score goals. With Suzuki, Christian Dvorak and Jake Evans all able to play a solid game in their own zone, the coaching staff will have to use these players to help with the speed deficiency the defence has shown.

Last year’s playoffs has shown the team collapsing in front of their goaltenders, with wingers covering the boards and the centerman covering the 5th man and guiding the wingers at the same time. This sometimes made for some boring hockey, but it resulted tons of odd-man rushes thus leading to the team’s success.

Not to mention, a five forward powerplay has been a smart move by MSL, a tactic used a few times already. It allowed the blue line to get some extra rest. This is also a move that can determine a team’s success – beat the opponent through special teams.

With six games left to the season, there’s still time to experiment and see what works and what doesn’t. One thing is clear, playing man-to-man with this team doesn’t work.

That being said however, even when the Canadiens get obliterated 8-4, it’s fun to see that there are some players, notably Nick Suzuki, keep playing until the final buzzer. Also props to Ryan Poehling for finally picking up his game as he is also fighting for a roster spot for next season.

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