The Canadiens have already proven that they can at least act like playoff contenders in 2024-25 and it would be entertaining for the fans to see. But that flame has since extinguished and we can point to a few culprits of why that is, even if they’re occasionally beating teams they should beat.
Yeah, the team needs to play better overall hockey, but if they can improve in three distinct stat lines, you’ll see them start winning games regularly or at least making them interesting again. No, it might not be enough to crack a wild card, but if they come close, we can consider this season a success.
1 - Converting high-danger chances
The Canadiens, and you’ll see me say this a few times, have been horrific defensively, and it shows in their overall goals allowed. While you ideally want to see them improve when they don’t have the puck, a good way to start winning games again is to take advantage of your chances.
And for the most part, the Habs do just that, with a 20.63 success rate on the man advantage. They also have 158 goals, which is a solid 15th in the NHL before Thursday’s slate of games. That said, they’re not converting high-danger chances, nor are they getting enough of them.
So far this season, the Habs created just 379 and converted 6.9 percent of them. That’s adding less-than-ideal to less-than-ideal. Unless the Canadiens fix their issues defensively, they need to connect more on the high-danger chances that they create and find ways to force more of them.
2 - Keeping the puck in the offensive zone
Later, you’re going to find out just how vulnerable the Canadiens are when their opponent has the puck. And if there’s one way to keep opponents from scoring is to stop giving them so many chances to score, something the Habs aren’t adept at.
Their Corsi For, if you want an example, sits at 48.8 percent, and their overall Corsi For in shots, blocks, and misses is 2,416, over 130 below the NHL average. For the Canadiens, creating more scoring opportunities and getting rebounds is a good way to control the puck more in the offensive zone and keep opponents clamoring for it.
It wouldn’t stop all their breakdowns defensively and in the crease, but getting more aggressive in the offensive zone would be a great place to begin.
3 - Allowing way too many goals
This one may sound rather basic, but sometimes basic defines the way a team has fared recently, and that’s true for the Canadiens. Their 0.904 save percentage at 5-on-5 is well below the NHL average, as is their 0.885 save percentage in all situations.
The Habs are allowing nearly one more shot on goal per game than the rest of the league, again when you take averages. And it’s led to the Canadiens watching 129 goals go into their own net at 5-on-5, 24 more than the average. Overall, they’ve allowed 183 goals, which is 23 more than what the entire league’s averaged.
Overall, if the Canadiens want to at least give their fans more to watch than just player development through the final two months of the season, they need to find a way to stop allowing so many goals.