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Martin St.Louis believes his team deserves better of late, but you don’t always get what you deserve in life and hockey. Proof being Jayden Struble’s injury, it wasn’t deserved, and yet it happened. At least, it appears to be less serious than initially thought as he’s being evaluated daily.
After a scoreless first period, Brendan Gallagher scored the first goal of the game early in the middle frame. Often criticized of late, it must have felt great for the veteran to get back on the scoresheet and know that he wouldn’t be making the headlines for the wrong reasons tomorrow. Linemates Jake Evans and Josh Anderson, who had been very discreet lately, both got an assist on the play. It didn’t even take a couple of minutes for the Devils to tie up the score though, as was also the case when captain Nick Suzuki made it 2-1 Montreal. The teams went back to the locker room tied after 40 minutes and all to play for in the third.
New Jersey had saved its best play for the final frame, and they took the lead for the first time in the game at 13:33 in the third, before adding a fourth goal exactly three minutes later. The Canadiens tried hard to come back, and Suzuki scored his second goal of the game, his 22 on the season, but it was too little too late for Montreal.
This was the Canadiens’ fifth loss in a row as they keep plummeting in the standings. It might not be great for the players’ morale, but it’s great for their eventual draft position. While it’s easy to identify areas of individual improvement this season, it’s hard to see how this team has improved collectively. Last season after 58 games Montreal had a 25-29-4 record and 54 points in the standings, this season after the same number of games, their record stands at 22-28-8 and they’ve got 52 points. Granted, the multiple injuries are not helping, but the keyword for this season was meant to be “progression” and one can wonder if the team has progressed at all.
At least, the fans can find solace in the fact Montreal finally has a functional first line, between Caufield and Slafkovsky, Suzuki is skating towards the best season of his career. He’s got 22 goals and 55 points right now and at this rate, he could hit 35 goals and 78 points which would both be career-best numbers. Meanwhile, the young Slovak has become not just a part of the first line, but a dominant part. If Josh Anderson is looking at what he’s doing, he could see what he should have done to secure a spot on the first line, he was given the opportunity numerous times but always failed to use it. As for Caufield, he’s on a 26-goal pace which is a disappointment, but his current rhythm should see him get 65 points, the highest total of his career. It’s worth noting that he will have done it while playing more games than ever.
The rest of the line-up remains a question mark for next year, the Anderson-Evans-Gallagher line might have had a good day at the office yesterday, but the two wingers have been struggling to find any kind of consistency this season, and rebuilding teams often put the emphasis on a youth movement.
For now, the players will have to head to the Bell Centre this morning for the Canadiens’ annual skills competition. This kind of event is much easier to enjoy for the players during a winning streak than when losses have become a regular occurrence, but they’ll have to remember they are doing it for the fans, the same fans who fork out good money to see an on-ice product that’s not always up to par.
The Habs’ next game will come on Tuesday night when they’ll welcome the Coyotes at the Bell Centre and a sixth loss in a row could see Montreal overtake Arizona in the race to the bottom of the standings. I can already hear Team Tank salivating at the thought...
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