Habs Forwards Stymied Through Last Two Games

The Montreal Canadiens first line had been humming along since the calendar flipped to February. 

But through their last two games, the forwards have mustered up zero goals. The defence has carried the torch but with very little success. With three goals from the defence through those two losses - 3-2 against the Buffalo Sabres then 4-1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

To make matters worse, the two losses marked the Canadiens' third and fourth consecutive defeats. It was glaringly apparent that the first line’s production wasn’t sustainable. Simply put, until the scoring depth is addressed, the Canadiens won’t be in the mix for a playoff spot.

Calling for Martin St. Louis to get the chop because of the Habs' recent play has become a regularity throughout Habs' Twitter. This is a bit surprising when you consider the fact that the Canadiens have been playing without a competitive second line. A drop in production was kind of expected and that’s okay, there is still work to be done.

If the bottom six were contributing a bit more and the main focus wasn’t on development then things would be different. But, alas, Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher have hindered the Habs on the scoresheet and their salaries are somewhat of an anchor for the organization. Tanner Pearson also hasn’t contributed very much, and Alex Newhook while not playing poorly hasn’t chipped in much to help the offence. 

Up to this point, the team has been punching above their weight class - Samuel Montembeault has stolen many games. But he has masked problems, much like Carey Price did before him. This is precisely why Kent Hughes is taking the right approach rebuilding the team from the ground up. 

Ideally, he would love to move underperforming players that are being paid for their mileage. But no general manager is going to take on players pushing 30, that aren’t producing. And buying them out would be costly, so we must remain patient.