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The Habs needed a big week heading into the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off to stay within striking distance of a playoff spot.  They didn’t get it as their home struggles continued while they only managed a single victory on the road.

The Week That Was

Feb. 4: Canadiens 4, Sharks 3 – The week started off on a reasonable note for Montreal.  It wasn’t a pretty game by any stretch but the Habs took the lead early in the second although they weren’t able to hold onto it.  They reclaimed it in the third but lost it again.  Special teams played a big role in this game with both teams scoring twice on the power play.  But it was a key penalty kill that was the difference as with just over four minutes left, Jake Evans set up Joel Armia for the winner.

Feb. 5: Kings 6, Canadiens 3 – The Habs couldn’t have come out much worse for this one as in the first few minutes, Los Angeles scored and was on pace for well over 100 shots on goal.  Montreal did settle down after that and even got the game to a one-goal deficit on two separate occasions in the third period with goals from Alexandre Carrier and Logan Mailloux.  But that’s as close as they got as Kevin Fiala’s second of the night put it away less than a minute after Mailloux’s tally, ending any hopes of a comeback.

Feb. 8: Devils 4, Canadiens 0 – New Jersey just seems to have Montreal’s number when the game is played in Montreal as this was their tenth straight win at the Bell Centre.  The Habs didn’t play poorly in this game (especially compared to how they started against the Kings) but they lacked a true spark throughout the contest.  The Hughes brothers each scored in the third and the only interesting part at the end was Owen Beck getting a good chance for his first NHL goal in the dying seconds but Jake Allen turned aside his penalty shot.

Feb. 9: Lightning 5, Canadiens 3 – The Habs held Tampa Bay to only two shots in the first half of the first period but they were down 2-0 as both were Grade-A chances that Jakub Dobes couldn’t stop.  Dobes was chased early in the second before Montreal started to make a late push; Brendan Gallagher’s second of the game in the third made it a one-goal contest.  But as was the case against Los Angeles, they couldn’t get any closer than that.

StatPack

Skaters:

Goalies:

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (26)
Assists: Lane Hutson (38)
Points: Nick Suzuki (52)
+/-: Alexandre Carrier (+4)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (83)
Shots: Cole Caufield (171)

News And Notes

– Owen Beck and Logan Mailloux were recalled following the AHL All-Star Game.  Both were sent down following the Tampa Bay game to keep playing during the break.

– Montreal’s victory over San Jose was Martin St. Louis’ 100th as an NHL head coach.

– Patrik Laine has been held without a point in eight straight games and hasn’t scored in ten. 

Last Game’s Lines

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Dach – Anderson
Beck – Dvorak – Gallagher
Laine – Evans – Armia

Matheson – Hutson
Struble – Carrier
Xhekaj – Savard

The Week(s) Ahead

Feb. 12-20: 4 Nations Face-Off – The entire NHL is on a long break for this event, the first best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, colloquially known as the HRR Cup.  (Which frankly also extends to this event.)  A trio of Habs will be taking part as Samuel Montembeault is on Team Canada while Patrik Laine and Joel Armia are on Finland’s roster.  The rest of the Canadiens will be off for a little more than a full week before practice resumes.

February 22: at Ottawa – The Senators managed to hold their own while waiting for Linus Ullmark to return and while they hit the break on a losing note (three straight), they’re in a Wild Card spot in the East which isn’t a bad spot to be in given their injuries.  Speaking of those, they were down a pair of centres in their last games with Josh Norris and Shane Pinto on the shelf although it’s likely that Pinto is back for this game.  While Brady Tkachuk is known as more of a power forward, he very quietly leads the NHL in shots on goal with 234.

Final Thought

With the Habs doing well when they had a fully healthy lineup but struggling at the first sign of injury trouble, the common refrain is that the team isn’t deep enough.  Truthfully, isn’t that to be expected though?  This is a team that has systematically eradicated a lot of its depth through selling off veteran players, a path they’re likely to take again in the coming weeks.  If you move a bunch of veterans and don’t replace many of them, your depth is going to take a hit.

What should be happening during this rebuilding stretch is that some of that depth is being developed in Laval.  We’ve seen Owen Beck and Logan Mailloux not look out of place in their most recent recalls while Joshua Roy had some success last year.  Obviously, there are other prospects down there getting much-needed development.  But that’s not something that can be fast-tracked, it’s going to take some time.  Eventually, some of those players will become the extra depth this team needs to sustain injury and, over time, management will bring in some more win-now options as they look to emerge from the rebuild.

In the meantime, the hot streak from earlier on should be viewed as a proof of concept, so to speak.  When everything is going right, this team showed signs of being competitive in the short run.  Now, if they can augment the group over the next couple of years, things should start looking up from there.  But with the trade deadline approaching, expect more of the same old same old of recent years with more talent going out then in as right now, they’re just not ready to make a real push for the postseason.