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For a while it looked like Canadiens’ fans were in for some exciting hockey as the two teams traded blow for blow in the first frame and early in the second, but after Mike Matheson equalized at 3-3, the wheels came off the wagon for the Canadiens and they were humiliated in a 9-4 loss. In his post-game presser, St-Louis called the game humbling for his players and he’s absolutely right, such a defeat just shows exactly how far the Canadiens are from being contenders in this league, even if they can, at times, beat a great team like the Avalanche as they did last Monday.
St-Louis waiting until the Bruins has scored eight goals on Montembeault before mercifully pulling him, I get that he didn’t want to send out the message he considered the debacle to be the goaltender’s fault, but there’s a limit to what a masked man should have to endure. Surrendering eight goals on 30 shots is definitely not good enough, but it would be wrong to lay the defeat at Mounty’s door as he was purely hung out to dry by his teammates.
There were a couple of positives in the game believe it or not, Montreal is finally more than a one trick pony when it comes to the power play. The players are no longer just looking to pass the puck to Caufield for a one-timer from the wing, now they can also try and find a teammate just by the net who’s managed to make himself forgotten by the defense. We’ve seen Slafkovsky score from there lately, and yesterday it was Caufield who was in space by the post and immediately noticed by Sean Monahan. Had those two options to Suzuki skating in space near the faceoff dot and firing one of his quick wrist shots, and you’ve actually got the start of a playbook there, praise the lord!
From an individual standpoint, Caufield’s goal was his fifth in the last five games and Sean Monahan who’s been the talk of the town lately as the trade deadline slowly approaches, had an assist on the Canadiens’ first three goals. The veteran now has 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 46 games through which he has stayed healthy, which should help make him an even more attractive target when the NHL’s GMs start hunting in readiness for the playoffs.
Tomorrow, the Canadiens’ players will be visiting the fans who will be giving blood for their annual blood drive at the Bell Centre, an event which is always appreciated by the fans and by Hema-Québec no doubt. Then, on Tuesday they’ll be taking on the Senators in Montreal before welcoming the Islanders and their new head coach, Patrick Roy in town on Thursday. This game just got a sudden boost of interest and I bet tickets sales suddenly went up…
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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