Montreal's top line is ineffective and, despite a vote of confidence from his coach, goalie Jake Allen struggles a bit in the loss.
Well there weren’t many positives to take away from the Canadiens’ loss Tuesday night at the Bell Centre, as they slunk out of the rink after dropping the contest 4-0 to the San Jose Sharks. Matt Nieto scored at 1:33 of the first period on a goal that Jake Allen should’ve kept out of the net and that set the tone for the night.
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Montreal had six power-play opportunities and they failed to put the puck in the net, mostly looking ineffective. It’s true that San Jose has a great penalty kill, but the Habs’ power play was curiously lackadaisical.
The game certainly confirmed one truth of this season. If the No. 1 line has a mediocre game, and they sure did, then the Canadiens usually lose. This remains a one-line team and that is clearly not a good thing. The other debate coming out of the game is the question of who should be the go-to goalie for the Habs. Before the game, head coach Martin St. Louis said once again that Allen is the No. 1 guy but he didn’t have a great game, yet again, and you can rest assured that the Quebec media will be clamouring for the return of Samuel Montembeault in the coming days. Monty has won his last two starts, road games in Chicago and Columbus.
The Canadiens’ best chance to get back in the game was when they had a 5-on-3 advantage for nearly a minute at the start of the third period, but they failed to score and weren’t even particularly dangerous.
Then Tomas Hertl tipped a puck past Allen for his sixth of the year shortly after the 5-on-3 and that was exactly the kind of night it was.
Not long after, Logan Couture came in on Allen on a breakaway and put it through the Canadiens netminder’s pads, another goal Allen should’ve stopped. The scoring was capped with Hertl getting his second with an empty-netter.
In short, this was a back-to-the-drawing-board moment for St. Louis’s squad. They need to figure out their power play. They need to figure out who their goalie is. And the No. 1 line needs to bounce back and given what’s happened so far this year, you figure they will, as early as Thursday night in Calgary.
To sum it up: Fire Burrows. Never sit Xhekaj. Ride Monty. Get Monahan away from the two stonehands. Slafkovsky stuck with plugs.
— Randy Timmins (@The_Creasy) November 30, 2022
Yes the unruly rabble is already calling for the return of Monty and Wi-Fi a.k.a. Arber Xhekaj Thursday. Suddenly, Thursday’s game looms large.
James Martin: First truly boring game this season.
Ryan Katz: The Canadiens young team was fed to the Sharks.
John Crew: These games are going to happen for a young rebuilding especially (team) after 2 nice wins, Marty will get them ready for the next.
bkelly@postmedia.com
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