The Montreal Canadiens had to figure out their defense pairings after they acquired Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators. They had a solid balance of offensive and defensive blueliners but decided to pair Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson together. It was a bold move from Martin St. Louis, but it was the right decision, as they dominated puck possession and kept teams out of the defensive zone.
The question on everyone's mind was whether they'd be able to keep it going for the rest of the season and into the heat of the playoff race. Surprisingly, it worked for as long as it did, as the Canadiens defeated some of the league's best teams. You'd assume the offensive depth of some of those teams would start forming mismatches for the pair, but it didn't come.
Well, the clock has struck midnight on the pair, as their defensive deficiencies have come to the forefront over the past few games. It hasn't been as bad for Hutson, even though he had a rough game against the Detroit Red Wings. However, Matheson has been abysmal for three games now, which includes their back-to-back losses over the Wings and New Jersey Devils.
I don't want to be one of those fairweather pundits that praise the team when they are the third-best team since November 10th but pretend the sky is falling when they lose back-to-back games. Teams go through ups and downs throughout the season, and the fans couldn't expect them to play at a .660 winning percentage pace for the rest of the year.
The test for the organization now will be if they find a way to put the train back on the tracks or slide back into rebuilding mode. They have plenty of options, including being sellers at the deadline and punting on their playoff chances, selling a couple of pieces while keeping the roster intact to attempt a run, or keeping all their expiring contracts and going for the postseason run fans crave.
I believe they'll fall somewhere in the middle, and there's a chance that Matheson is quickly playing himself into the territory of being one of the expiring contracts they move. David Savard will fetch more on the open market, but his absence would hurt more than Matheson's.