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After Samuel Montembeault allowed the Canadiens to steal two points in New Jersey the night before, it was Cayden Primeau’s turn to man the net in Ottawa. The youngster had one of his difficult outings, one where his glove hand was taken advantage of, but it would be unfair to hang the loss on him. Just like when they played the Sharks and the Sabres, the Canadiens looked like a last place team, which they aren’t. Sure, they are in a rebuild, but they still had 15 more points in the standings than the Senators. Allowing 17 shots on net while only testing the opposition goaltender six times in the first frame sets the tone for the night and gives the opponent so much confidence.
The Canadiens were lucky to get a goal in the first, it wasn’t so much a goal as it was a gift from Korpisalo who was unable to catch Caufield’s shot with his glove hand. Still, it was Caufield’s fourth game in a row with a goal which should do wonders for the diminutive winger’s confidence as he’s struggled to find the back of the net this year. He’s now leading the team in goals, as he should be. Michael Pezzatta tried his best to wake up the team, inviting Zack Mac Ewen to drop the gloves, but the Senators’ tough guy only obliged with a minute left in the first, meaning any momentum Pezzetta could have given his team ended in the locker room.
Pezzetta was also the only other goal scorer on the night, which says a lot about the collective effort provided on the night. It could have been useful for the Canadiens to have Arber Xhekaj in the line-up yesterday, the blue liner always plays a very physical game against the Senators and his bone crushing hits might have woken up his teammates.
Losing is not the end of the world right now as the team is rebuilding, but the matter in which they lost that game was concerning. Martin St-Louis is always talking about consistency, the need for his players and his goaltenders to be able to be consistent in their game. This also applies to the team’s game, good teams bring their A-game no matter who they are facing, they take nothing for granted and they don’t underestimate anyone. Perhaps this is yet another thing which St-Louis will have to address with his players.
While fans will want to forget this pitiful game as soon as possible, hopefully the players keep it in mind and learn from it. Tomorrow the Canadiens will be in Boston to take on the Bruins who are second in the standings and have won their last three games. In other words, it will be a game were playing to the opposition is exactly what’s needed, hopefully, Montreal will have gotten the memo.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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