The Montreal Canadiens are trying to get back to the playoffs after surprising a lot of the league making it last year. However, there is a concerning trend that could cost the Canadiens seeding in the playoffs or their chance to make the playoffs altogether.
That was on display against the Boston Bruins as they suffered another third-period collapse and lost 4-3 after taking a 3-2 lead into the final period. This is now their third regulation loss on the season with a lead after the second period, and that is one more than they had all of last season.
In addition to regulation losses, the Canadiens have two overtime losses with a lead going into the third period when they had only one all of last season.
There is no question having the lead going into the third period doesn't guarantee a win but these are points they should have. When thinking about just those five games, the Canadiens already have given up eight points and if they had won those games they would be one point ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the Atlantic Division lead.
Instead, they are currently trying to hold onto a Wild Card spot with 63 points and tied with the Boston Bruins.
Where should the blame lie in this latest Montreal Canadiens' loss?
The easy answer to this question would be to put the blame on Sam Montembeault, and he certainly deserves some share of the blame. The Canadiens' goalie has struggled this season and has cost them games, including giving up two in the third period against the Boston Bruins.
However, that isn't the only issue, as the Canadiens' penalty kill just hasn't been good enough either. The deciding goal against the Bruins was a power play goal by Morgan Geekie, and it would be the third power play goal given up in this game.
The Canadiens' penalty kill has regressed significantly this season, going from ninth in the league last year at 80.9% to 26th this season at 76.5%. There is no question that the loss of Joel Armia in free agency has played a big part in the struggles, but it is something they have to fix.
After the game, Cole Caufield clearly understood what these types of games mean, and Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette quoted Caufield saying, “These moments are huge and these are the moments you look back on and you hope it doesn’t bite you in the *** because you have the lead going into the third against a pretty good team that’s chasing us, that needs those points. We got to have that same urgency.”
The issues run deep for the Montreal Canadiens, and the pressure will be on the players and general manager Kent Hughes going into the trade deadline to find the answer to correct them.