It was always going to be a long shot. The Montreal Canadiens hopes of making the playoffs were slim coming out of their bye-week. Still, the NHL schedule makers gave the Habs a glimmer of hope through their opponents last week. Unfortunately, the Habs could not take advantage. They lost four of five games, including three to the rival Boston Bruins.
Difficult Week Ends Montreal Canadiens Playoff Dream
Most Habs fans and media were already resigned to the fact that there would not be any spring hockey in Montreal. Only Habs management was (publicly, at least) still holding out hope for a serious run to a playoff spot. The Habs lost three in a row coming out of their bye-week before sneaking a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals. Still, the Habs week ended with a thud in a 4-1 loss at the Bell Centre to the Bruins.
Rivalry?
The Habs did have an opportunity to make up some ground on the Boston Bruins. They played three times in eight nights. Coming in, the Bruins were the hottest team in the NHL. After this week, they still are. The Bruins were able to easily handle the Canadiens in all three games, outscoring the Habs 12-5. In an especially embarrassing performance, the Canadiens essentially no-showed against the Bruins on January 17th, losing 4-1. The game was the proverbial nail in the coffin of the Habs playoff hopes.
The Canadiens-Bruins rivalry is one of the best in the NHL. Unfortunately, these three games, the Habs rolled over and played dead. The Habs normally play the Bruins tough but in these important games, with their season on the line, the Habs could not keep up with a streaking Bruins team. As mentioned on the Last Word on Habs Podcast last week, it seems the Bruins and Habs are two elevators passing each other on their way up and down. Unfortunately for Habs fans, we don’t know how low the elevator can go.
Max Pacioretty, Too Little Too Late
A bright spot this past week has been the re-emergence of Max Pacioretty. The much-maligned Habs captain was having an especially difficult year. Normally a lock for 30 goals, Pacioretty seemed to lose his scoring touch this season, netting eight goals before the Habs bye-week. His struggles have made him an easy target for frustrated fans and media. Max Pacioretty is built like a power forward, so many people feel he should play that kind of game. Pacioretty’s game, however, is less Milan Lucic and more Phil Kessel. Still, given his struggles this year and his past performance (and his excellent contract) his name has been included in trade rumours.
Coming out of the bye-week, Pacioretty seems to have found his game, scoring seven goals in seven games. The Canadiens needed their captain to find his game if they had any hopes of going on a major run to the playoffs. Well, he seems to have found it, but unfortunately for the Canadiens, it’s too late for it to make much of a difference. Even with his recent goal streak, Pacioretty is on pace for 27 goals, his lowest output since 2010-11 (not counting the lockout-shortened season in 2012 where he scored 15 in 44 games and was on pace for 29 goals). The Canadiens struggles this season cannot be completely laid at the feet of the captain, the team is simply not deep enough to have survived a prolonged Pacioretty slump. The team needed him to start producing earlier in the season when the team still had a real chance at the playoffs.
What To Do
With the Playoff dream dead, its time for General Manager Marc Bergevin to start working on his ‘reset’ of the team. What that means is anyone’s guess, but he needs to start working on it fast. LWOS Ben Kerr has his own opinions on what the Habs should do heading into the trade deadline.
The focus should be on the draft and offseason. The team needs to shed expiring contracts and non-essential players. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, only Carey Price and Victor Mete are untouchable’s on the Habs roster.
On Calgary radio, @FriedgeHNIC says that Bergevin is the most active already among all GMs. He is, he says, working on the rebuild. He adds apparently only Price and Mete are untouchable.
— Brian Wilde (@BWildeRecrutes) January 19, 2018
Now if that is true or not is another question but it seems that Bergevin is open for business and willing to move just about anyone to make the team better, in his eyes. The scary part for Habs fans is that Bergevin thought he was improving the team this year.
