The Montreal Canadiens did not turn a corner after they beat the Boston Bruins 5-1 at the Winter Classic. Many, myself included had hoped that this was the beginning of a fresh start and new year after a dismal December. However, last night’s 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers was evidence that the Canadiens cannot afford to take any opponent lightly. There was no excuse to play so poorly after having played so well. The players, coaches, management and fans know what this team is capable of when they play their best hockey. Unfortunately, an inconsistent effort is only going to take the team so far. Perhaps Carey Price is capable of stealing a few more games than Ben Scrivens and Mike Condon. If the Canadiens were to play the same way in front of Price, they would still be exposed quite quickly and especially by stronger opponents and in the playoffs...

The Canadiens rarely seemed to be on the same page throughout the game. Brayden Schenn of the Flyers scored the first goal of the game just 5 minutes in on a breakaway. It was a total lack of communication which led to the breakaway. Alex Galchenyuk carried the puck into the Flyers zone and Mark Barberio drove towards the net. Andrei Markov stepped up and called for the puck while Lars Eller was just a few feet away from him. No one seemed to notice that a Flyer, Schenn, was still behind the play. Galchenyuk’s pass wasn’t clean but Markov took it and shot right into Sean Couturier who blocked the shot and passed it up to Schenn for the clean breakaway and goal. So many choices for the blame game on the Canadiens but really it comes down to zero communication between Barberio, Markov, Eller and Galchenyuk. Someone had to be aware that there was a Flyer still behind and play back. Someone had to say if they were jumping in on the play. Since the pass was not clean, Markov should not have elected to force the shot.



Fortunately, the line made up for their error by evening the score by the end of the first as Galchenyuk tipped Barberio’s shot from the point. The bad news though was that the Flyers would take control of the game in the second period and did not look back. David Desharnais would lose a defensive zone draw and the Canadiens did not cover the point in time as Shayne Gostisbehere would blast one by Scrivens. A few minutes later, Wayne Simmonds would tip Gostisbehere’s shot on the powerplay to give the Flyers a 3-1 lead. Brendan Gallagher, who had been quiet for the first half of the game along with his linemates Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec, would get one back for the Canadiens before the end of the second as he tipped Alexei Emelin’s shot past Michal Neuvirth.

Early in the 3rd, Couturier would re-establish the Flyers two goal lead benefiting from blown coverage in the Canadiens defensive zone. Daniel Carr misplayed the puck on the right side, a difficult backhand play for a natural left winger which allowed the Flyers to intercept the puck. Petry allowed Couturier to get in behind him though and he would benefit from the bounce off the boards to score what would prove to be the winning goal. Carr would bring the Canadiens back within one with less than a minute to go in the game but it was too little too late.

Postgame, Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien said:

#Habs coach M.Therrien not pleased with his team's effort tonight in PHI: "Some of our players will have to step it up."

— Richard Labbé (@Richardlabbe) January 6, 2016

When Nathan Beaulieu and Mark Barberio are your best players on defence during a game, the Canadiens are not going to win too many games. That is not to knock down either player. I fully believe that Beaulieu is a big part of the Canadiens future success and along with Subban and Petry will make up the Habs top 3 on defence. But he is not ahead of Subban and Petry right now and Barberio is the 5th/6th defenceman playing well in his limited role. Andrei Markov was on the ice for 3 goals against last night. He and Petry have not been playing especially well together since they have been paired up. Emelin has played well enough on the 3rd pairing without the pressure of playing so many big minutes. At least on back to back nights, Therrien did not play Markov over 24+ minutes like he has in the past…

While much of the talk lately has focused on Captain Pacioretty, I am looking at P.K. Subban as the one who needs to literally lift this team on his shoulders. Next to Carey Price, Subban is the best player on this team. The one with the most skill. The one with the ability to change the game every single time he has the puck on his stick. The one who is being paid $9 million usd a year. The one who is stuck at 1 goal midway through the 2015-2016 season. It is not that Subban is playing poorly game in and game out. He is playing well enough but not to the Norris level of play that fans have grown accustomed to. Subban has to decide that it is time for him to step and make the big play. Like Brendan Gallagher, Subban’s enthusiasm can be contagious. It is time to lead the Canadiens on the ice. Subban - You have done your part off the ice with your enormous heart and dedication to the Montreal Children’s. Now have fun and do it on the ice as well…

The Canadiens will have an opportunity to right the ship again tonight as they face the New Jersey Devils back at the Bell Centre. It will be the Canadiens first home game since December 17th. While extended road trips are always tough, the Canadiens had it relatively easy compared to other teams. They played 3 Western games before returning home for the Christmas break. After Christmas they played 3 more road games in their time zone before going to Boston for the Winter Classic. Post-Classic they had time to return home for rest and practice before making the short trip to Philadelphia. This team’s motto has been ‘No Excuses’ ever since general manager Marc Bergevin and Therrien took over the reigns. The road trip cannot be an excuse for poor play.

Mike Condon will get the start tonight against the Devils. Condon has won his past two starts in a row and has returned to his high level of play from earlier this season. Hopefully his presence in net will be a boost to the Canadiens. As Devante Smith-Pelly did not step up against the Flyers last night, I fully expect Sven Andrighetto to get the opportunity to play tonight.

The Devils held an optional skate this morning. Cory Schneider will get the start in goal for New Jersey. Former Canadiens forward Mike Cammalleri is injured and did not make the trip to Montreal.

5 Questions for Tonight’s Game:

1) Will a leader other than Brendan Gallagher step up to lead the Canadiens tonight against the Devils?

2) While the Power play created some momentum against the Flyers, they are still struggling to score goals. Is it time to stop the 4 forwards experiment?

3) The Canadiens have scored three goals or more in 3 of their last 4 games. Has the offence finally turned the corner?

4) Which Canadiens team will show up to the rink tonight? Jekyll or Hyde?

5) How patient will the fans be at the game tonight? Fans are hungry for more wins and have been waiting awhile to see les Habitants in person…

Reminder - Tonight’s game starts early at 7:00PM!

Cheers & Enjoy the Game!
Follow @Jenbcutler

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