In the Habs Room: Boobirds serenade Canadiens in ugly 3-0 loss to Carolina

Somehow it seemed fitting Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, deemed to be the best player on the Canadiens for the month of March based on three-star selections, wasn’t in uniform on a night when his effort might have made a difference, or at least provided a spark, against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Harvey-Pinard cares.

Michael Pezzetta cares. The rugged winger delivered a hit on Jacob Slavin five seconds into the game. Alex Belzile cares. Belzile, finally getting an extended NHL look this season because injuries, smashed his stick over the crossbar in frustration following the Hurricanes’ third goal.

We’re not suggesting these are the only three Montreal players who still give a darn, but it’s becoming more obvious not enough of them are still providing maximum effort since the team’s inevitable elimination from playoff contention last Tuesday.

Following Thursday’s lacklustre 5-2 defeat against Florida, the Canadiens proved Saturday night they’ve yet to hit rock bottom during this embarrassing and ugly 3-0 loss to Carolina at the Bell Centre.

How bad was it? The visitors produced 50 shots on net, the most Montreal has allowed in a game this season. The Canadiens, conversely, mustered a season-low 14 shots on goaltender Antti Raanta, who hardly broke a sweat recording his fourth shutout this season. He returned to the lineup after suffering a lower-body injury March 7, the last time these teams met.

The Hurricanes actually generated 83 attempts between shots, attempts blocked and missed shots. The Canadiens’ total was 25. In this season that can’t end soon enough, Montreal was shut out for the fifth time. The Canadiens also lost all three games between the teams this season and were outscored 13-5.

Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis tried to rationalize the disparity in shots by saying: “I definitely felt it tonight and I know they’ve done it to great teams in this league. They’re capable of that. We’re not the only team they’ve done that to. They’re hard to play against.”

Specifically asked whether his team has packed it in, St. Louis said: “I hope not.”

Brady Skjei opened the scoring six minutes into the game. It was his 17th goal this season and the 52nd produced by a Hurricanes defenceman, which established a franchise record. The old mark stood for 43 years, dating back to the 1979-80 season, when the team operated out of Hartford.

It would be the only goal Carolina would require, but Paul Stastny and Sebastian Aho, the latter on the power-play, put the game away in the second period. The shots through two periods favoured the Hurricanes, 36-10. Little wonder, despite the loss, Canadiens netminder Sam Montembeault was selected third star after stopping 47 shots for a nifty .940 save percentage. He couldn’t help but draw praise from St. Louis for his performance.

“It was a tough night … playing such a good team,” Montembeault said. “The whole night they were right on us. We didn’t have any time or space. It almost looked like they were playing six on five the whole night.”

The Canadiens left the ice to a chorus of boos at the match’s conclusion from the few disgruntled spectators that remained.

“It’s obviously frustrating,” rookie defenceman Jordan Harris said. “It’s frustrating for the players, coaches, everyone — the fans. I don’t think the fans are too happy, nor should they be after domination like that.

“It’s tough when you’re chasing, and I felt like we were chasing the whole game,” he added. “You can kind of see we have a long way to go to be competing for a Cup. I think we see flashes along the way. They’re a very good team and they stick to their game plan. Their consistency throughout the whole game is something we can try to emulate.”

Joel Armia returned to the Canadiens’ lineup for the first time since Feb. 21, having missed 19 games with an injury, but generated only one shot. He refused to disclose the nature of his injury.

“I think we got what we deserved,” Armia said. “I don’t think at any point in the game we played good. Without (Montembeault) it could have been a lot different. Not a good game for us. Everything we did played into their hands. We didn’t put the pucks deep when we needed to. We didn’t skate as good as we needed to. It was just feeding (into) their game.”

The Canadiens (30-41-6) have now lost three straight and continue this four-game homestand Tuesday night against Detroit. Only five games remain in the season.

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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