The Montreal Canadiens have been one of the hottest teams in the league for the past month or so. They are also the second youngest NHL team, just a bit older than the Buffalo Sabres. That is an interesting combination. Young teams need to learn, and the Toronto Maple Leafs took the Canadiens to school.
Every time that players are put into new situations, you hope that they learn something. Experience is the best teacher, and many Montreal Canadiens players are frequently put into new situations, and you can only hope that they learn when they make mistakes.
And losing 7-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs is a pretty big mistake. Hopefully its the last time they make this mistake. But to be fair to them, this wasn't a position that the team has been in very often. And that position is being in a big lead early.
The Montreal Canadiens have a record of 10-2-1 in their last 13 games, which is the best in the entire league. But there has been a certain way that they have been winning and losing those games.
In their last game, the Habs beat the Stars 3-1 in a tight game, that really was practically a one goal game, as the third Canadiens goal was an empty netter. Then there was the game against Utah, where the Canadiens were losing after the first, tied 3-3 during the third, and scored two goals late to take the win.
The next game back was a loss to the Stars, in a shootout, so obviously a close game. And then there were three games against Washington, Vancouver and Colorado all required extra time. The Washington and Colorado games were low scoring affairs, while the Vancouver game was 3-1 at one point in the second period, before the Habs came back to force and win the game in overtime.
Then the Canadiens lost to the Blackhawks, and beat the Vegas Golden Knights by one goal. Then against the Lightning the Habs went up 3-1, but Tampa scored to bring it within one before the Canadiens broke the game open in the third.
The sole exception to the close game rule came against the Florida Panthers, Jakub Dobes' debut, where the Canadiens won 4-0. 3 of those goals were scored in the second period as well.
So, in the past period while the Montreal Canadiens have been seeing great success, they have not been playing with a big lead very often, and when they have, they haven't played with a big lead for very long.
The game against Toronto was their fastest start in a long time, getting out of the first period with a 3-0 lead and absolute control over the game. But then, things fell apart quickly. Christian Dvorak hit the post, and Bobby McMann went back and scored a goal directly off that shot.
If that Dvorak shot went in, then we probably would have a completely different result to the game. But the shot didn't go in, and the Montreal Canadiens fell apart and allowed 7 unanswered goals.
A lot of people have talked about the way that the Habs have grown very resilient and have been able to come back from deficits a lot more often then they used to.
And that is great. Its a situation that the Habs have been in often this season. So understandably, the Habs know how to handle the situation, and have gotten really good at rebounding after being put behind the 8 ball.
But, they are not used to playing with a big, early lead. The Canadiens let their foot off the gas, and the Maple Leafs capitalized. The Leafs stepped up and scored goals, putting the Habs on the back foot, and they were not able to get back into the game.
The Maple Leafs taught the Canadiens that they cannot put their foot off the gas, no matter how safe the lead seems. The only thing is, now the team has to take what they learned and make sure that something like this never happens again.