The Montreal Canadiens have managed, despite very uneven performances over that span, to get 7 points out of 10 in their last 5 games.
For a team currently sitting last in the Atlantic division, it doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
Well the Habs fan base is usually so invested in the team’s day-to-day activities and results, they tend to look at the tree so close, they miss the forest behind it.
There were reasons to be happy when Montreal played its best game of the season against the Oilers. What followed was a week of training, focusing on the details and improving collectively…. Only to get absolutely destroyed by the best team in the Pacific division.
And if that inconsistency didn’t rile you up, I’m sure the loss to Utah where the Habs managed a whooping 13 shots on net was enough to make many wonder where exactly was the progress we all expected from this team.
That’s exactly why yesterday’s win against Columbus was so important. The team’s confidence looked extremely fragile and it needed a good performance, they needed some players to give them more than they had recently, they needed to show… something to not spiral down another long losing streak.
It wasn’t perfect, but we did get a good performance against Columbus that, notably, saw Slafkovsky get his first goal in 15 games and play a good game on both sides of the ice. In fact, that goal seemed to liberate him from immense pressure he was likely putting on himself. If Montreal is going to build something interesting with their current core of players, “Slaf” needs to bring this kind of level on a consistent basis, just like he did in the second half of last season.
I know it’s sometimes difficult not to lose patience on a rebuilding team when they give the performances they did against Vegas and Utah, but we need to step back from the daily result and look at the big picture.
7 out of 10 points, if they did that all season, that’s a 114 points season.
So yeah, things aren’t perfect…. But they could be a whole lot worse.
Quick Notes
Montreal called up Joshua Roy the past few games. The young player played a little over 11 minutes in both games and looked, in my opinion, like a player that wanted to limit his mistakes after being the surprise cut of the last training camp. I’m a big believer in Roy’s future as I think he’ll be a very good player for the Canadiens in a top 9 role but with Patrik Laine’s imminent return and Raphaël Harvey-Pinard’s conditioning stint ending, he’ll need to show a whole lot more to stick on the roster.
Things aren’t going according to plan for Kirby Dach. The young centreman (sometimes winger) is having plenty of difficulties finding his game this season after showing so much promise before his injury. It’s not so much his evident lack of production that worries me but his inability to have a positive impact while he’s on the ice. Dach’s game was always about creating turnover with his long reach and being excellent in the transition game from defense to offense. We’re just not seeing that from him this season. Patience remains the name of the game in his case and we might have to wait until the second half of the season to truly start worrying about his actual potential role on this team.
While I’m willing to be very patient with the Canadiens young players, that patience can sometimes run out. For me, Justin Barron is entering the category of young players that might be better off elsewhere in my book. I understand his value has likely never been lower, but it’s difficult to see what he can actually bring to the team moving forward. He’s not bringing offense, he’s handling the puck like a hot potato and keeps having these lapses defensively that costs goal to the team. Perhaps a change of scenery would be good for the former first round pick and he could bounce back elsewhere, but I truly don’t think it’s happening with the Canadiens.
Montreal moves forward with another back-to-back weekend against the Rangers and the Bruins. Let’s see if they can manage to get their share of points and remain competitive against good teams, just like they did against the Oilers… without falling back into their bad habits as they showed against Vegas.
Thank you all for reading and have a nice day!
Hugo Brossoit (Scabeh)
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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