Cole Caufield had a hat trick against the Boston Bruins Saturday night at TD Garden in Boston, the first Montreal Canadien to do it since Mike Cammalleri in 2009.
It didn’t matter.
After entering the third period of Saturday’s game in Boston with a 3-2 lead, the Canadiens threw away the advantage due to two of the nagging ailments of the season, undisciplined play and unreliable goaltending.
The Bruins were the only team in the NHL without a win while trailing after two periods at 0-17 until their third-period comeback win against the Habs.
“It doesn’t feel great at all,” Said Caufield after the game. “This game happens quick and these moments are huge. These are the moments you look back at and hope that it doesn’t bite you in the ***.”
“You’ve got the lead going into the third against a team that’s chasing us that needs those points and we’ve got to have that same urgency.”
Due to the loss and a combination of both Boston and Buffalo winning their games on Saturday, Montreal has now fallen from the third spot in the Atlantic Division down to the second Eastern Conference wildcard spot.
This begs the question, what is the most important goal for Montreal this season? Playoffs or progress?
A continuation from the previous season with another playoff appearance would certainly be a good goal to have, especially with the “expected” regression from the Canadiens, but that is still a short-term outlook on the overall goal.
According to GM Kent Hughes in an interview with Arpon Basu and Marc-Antoine Godin, the progress part still seems to be top of mind.
This philosophy certainly makes sense for a team still years away from entering its contention window and is consistent with how the Hughes / Gorton administration has held since before the season began. That being said, certain aspects of the Habs game need to be addressed, with goaltending of course being top of mind.
Despite a brief string of improved games since his return from Laval, Samuel Montembeault seems to have slipped back into his early season ways. In his last three starts he has save percentages well below .900. He had a .853 in Ottawa, a .813 against the Sabres and a .810 in Boston. Most importantly Montembeault only faced 16 shots against Buffalo and 21 versus the Bruins.
The other aspect that is taking a toll is more of a symptom of a greater team issue. Taking penalties. The Canadiens currently sit as the fourth most penalized team in the league in both PIM (554) and in penalties taken per 60 minutes (4.32), only behind Florida, Tampa Bay and Boston. An untimely high stick by Kaiden Guhle and an unforced penalty by Alexandre Carrier cost the Canadiens in Boston. Neither were good penalties. One was in the offensive zone, and one was immediately after the game-tying goal and led to the game-winner.
How much runway do each of these problems have left before a more immediate solution is required to be implemented? Progress versus playoffs remains the question, and despite lots of progress, the youngest team in the league still has a lot of growing up to do.