The Montreal Canadiens are struggling so far this season. The team has lost six games in a row. Their only victory, so far, was a shootout win in Buffalo opening night. The Canadiens seemed to have carried their sluggish play from last year’s playoffs into this season. Going back to last years playoffs, the Habs have three wins in their last 13 games.
A lot of early criticism has been focused on the play of Alex Galchenyuk. Galchenyuk had a terrible finish last season and a difficult start to this one. Along with struggling on the ice, Galchenyuk’s name came up in several trade rumors during the offseason. With much of the focus on the play of Galchenyuk, Max Pacioretty‘s struggles have gone a little under the radar.
Montreal Canadiens Need More From Max Pacioretty
The Montreal Canadiens are a team that struggles to score goals. This is nothing new. The Canadiens finished last season 15th in league scoring. However, in the 37 games (including playoffs) under Claude Julien, the Canadiens have scored 79 goals. That is good for 2.13 goals per game. During that span, the Habs have been shut out four times, scored one goal in 10 games, and scored two goals in seven games.
The whole team is having issues scoring but their most reliable scoring threat, Max Pacioretty, has been slumping as well. In those 37 games, Pacioretty has only scored eight goals. Including the playoffs, Pacioretty has only scored one goal in his last 17 games. Unfortunately, the Canadiens do not have enough scoring depth to withstand a prolonged slump form Pacioretty. If the Habs are going to pull themselves out of this losing streak, they need their captain to find his scoring touch.
Streaky Scorer
Slow starts are nothing new to Pacioretty. Last season, through the first 20 games he only scored four goals. By the end of the season, he has 35. In 2012-13 he scored a career-best 39 goals but started the season by netting two in the first 12 games.
There is no doubt that Max Pacioretty can score goals in the NHL. He has scored 30 or more goals the last four season and five of the last six (only missing the mark in 2012 because of the lockout-shortened 44 game season). Still, for all of his goal-scoring prowess, Pacioretty, like many goal scorers, is very streaky. After his slow start last season, Pacioretty scored 15 goals in his next 20 games.
When Max Pacioretty is on a hot streak, has always scored his goals in bunches. In his career, so far, he has 39 multi-goal games, with six hat tricks, including a four-goal performance. So Pacioretty can explode for multiple goals at any time.
This Season
Max Pacioretty came into this season looking to improve on his poor showing in the playoffs last season. The season started promising, with Pacioretty scoring in the season opener in Buffalo.
Gallagher -> Drouin -> Pacioretty -> 1-1 #Habs pic.twitter.com/CSI1t02E9q
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) October 5, 2017
It was a perfect start for Pacioretty, after having to deal with criticism over not scoring in the Habs playoff loss to the New York Rangers last season. It was also promising to see chemistry develop with new acquisition Jonathan Drouin.
Unfortunately, that is all the production Pacioretty has provided the Canadiens early in the year. The chemistry between Drouin and Pacioretty has not flourished yet either. The Canadiens waiting for Pacioretty to heat up is nothing new. However, the past few season, the Habs have been able to mitigate that by racing out too fast starts. Unfortunately, this year the Canadiens are struggling, posting a 1-5-1 record and sit last in the Eastern Conference.
The Canadiens have really had a difficult time scoring this season. Through seven games, the Habs have 11 goals. The Canadiens need their captain to take charge here. He has the ability to score goals in the NHL and the Canadiens need him to find his game fast. If he doesn’t the Habs risk slipping too far down the standings to be able to turn it around.
