The Montreal Canadiens, coming out of the Olympic break, were in a much better position in the standings compared to the 4 Nations Faceoff break last season. However, the playoff race is extremely competitive, and they can't afford to give up points, like they did Thursday night against the New York Islanders.
Once again, it is late-game issues that would cost them a point in a game they didn't trail until the Islanders scored the game-winning goal in overtime. After having a 2-0 lead in the second and then a 3-2 lead late in the third, the Islanders would score a goal with less than two minutes left in the third period to send it to overtime.
In overtime, Jean-Gabriel Pageau would beat Samuel Montembeault for the game-winner, and the Canadiens would only get one point. They fall one spot in the Atlantic Division after the Detroit Red Wings won over the Ottawa Senators.
Montreal Canadiens know this is a problem but it might be on the players to fix
The late-game struggles are nothing new for this team, and something the players have discussed for a while now. Last season, the Canadiens had four regulation losses and 11 overtime losses in one-goal games, but this season, they already have five regulation losses and nine overtime losses.
They also have more regulation losses (3) when leading after two than all of last season (2). While these are not huge totals, these are points that the Canadiens probably are going to regret giving up when the playoffs roll around. These games are the difference between having home ice advantage in the first round and being a wild card team.
The hope would have been that the Canadiens could have figured out some answers during the Olympic break, but it seems they need to go back to the drawing board. After the game, Martin St. Louis was asked what had to change, and he seemed to put the responsibility on the players.
"It's a mindset, it's a decision making, you know, it's choice of play with the puck and it's not necessarily structure, it's individual intentions at the time," St. Louis said. "I feel we had time to simplify through the neutral zone, get on the forecheck, which I thought we did a pretty good job and we just didn't see a lot of that [late in the game]."
It doesn't get any easier for the Montreal Canadiens as they have a few days off before heading on a West Coast trip with three games in five days starting on Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks. The Canadiens will have to figure something out because they can't afford to have too many more games like this and let points slip away.