There are many questions on the minds of hockey fans around the world right now. Will the NHL be at the Bejing Olympics? Is the latest COVID variant going to halt the NHL season altogether? And of course, the most important question of all — when will the Montreal Canadiens end their losing streak? The first two should take some time to answer, but the third was answered when the Habs visited the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night.
Welcome to your Bottom Six Minutes, in which I’ll discuss the answer to that third question being an emphatic no.
This was honestly far from the worst game the team has played this season. They hit the post enough in this game to have completely changed the score if a few of those shots were a few centimeters in another direction. Sometimes finding the bottom of the standings requires a little help from the hockey gods.
Seven straight losses, and this being one more step towards a better chance of selecting Shane Wright, the presumptuous first-overall pick this summer. Beating the Arizona Coyotes for the best odds in the lottery will be tough, but as it stands the Habs will have decent odds no matter the percentage. If you’re a fan of Wright, it’s hard to be too upset over losses at this stage.
Your silver lining of the night comes in the form of a solid performance by Jonathan Drouin. After former Habs goaltending coach Stephane Waite had some words about him, he came out with one of his better games of the season. I’m not sure if the comments had any effect on him, but if they did he reacted in the best possible way.
Click the play button below for my full thoughts, and I’ll be back again after Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
