Starting out a pivotal four-game road trip against the St. Louis Blues, the Montreal Canadiens continued a troubling trend on Tuesday night. It took nearly 13 minutes for them to register a shot on goal, as they came out even flatter than in the first period of their comeback against Colorado. But there was no comeback to start this road trip, and now the team will have to find a way to put a 6-1 loss behind them with three more very important road games ahead.
A big help would be for them to remember what time the games start at, and make sure they actually show up when the puck drops for the first period.
Philip Broberg rips it glove side to make it 5-1!
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 26, 2025
Sam Montembeault is pulled for Jakub Dobes. pic.twitter.com/gJqrkADDz7
It would be easy to hang this game on Samuel Montembeault. True though it may be that this was one of his worst games of the season, that would be a dangerous oversimplification. There is something to be said for them redlining their starting goaltender, giving him very little rest since the Four Nations break, but it’s not like the above goal was the difference maker in a close game.
The fact is that this team has fallen into a habit of digging themselves into early holes that they won’t always be able to climb out of. Comebacks are fun and all, but if you’re routinely forced to try and pull them off, you will inevitably have games like last night’s where the necessary scoring just doesn’t materialize. Relying on your ability to execute comebacks is not a strategy that will win you a ton of games in the NHL.
They hit several posts, Jordan Binnington made some nice saves, and before the midway point of the third period it was clear that they weren’t going to find a miracle like they did against the Avalanche this past weekend. You will run up against good goaltending, you will have some nights with bad puck luck, and the only way to overcome that is to show up ready to play, and not be reliant on late-game pushes to secure crucial points in the standings.
Thankfully, they did get some help with the out-of-town scoreboard last night. Ottawa, Detroit, and New York all lost their respective games, so the Habs’ position is unchanged for the time being. That could change quickly with three games in four days starting this Thursday, so they have to find it in themselves to show up ready to go for each of those.
If they can’t figure out a way to get at least three or four points out of those games, they might be on the outside looking in by the time they get back to the Bell Centre.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back on Thursday night, when the #Habs will play the first half of a back-to-back on the road against the Philadelphia Flyers.
