When Josh Anderson was called for one of the most ridiculous roughing penalties I have ever seen last night, I thought I could write one of my patented officiating complaints. The Seattle Kraken scored on the ensuing power play, and it felt like it was going to be the difference maker right up until Nick Suzuki scored the tying goal with two minutes to play.
But if I, or the Montreal Canadiens had to honestly pick one thing to blame for their loss on Saturday night, it would have to be their power play.
The Kraken were shown the gate six times, and the Habs turned that into precisely zero goals. Going scoreless through six opportunities would be bad enough, but they also managed to allow two goals while holding that advantage. One would luckily be called back due to an offside challenge, but the other was a comical error from Chris Wideman that counted.
Your name is Chris Why-dman now, because why? pic.twitter.com/kLxQZh4hyv
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) March 13, 2022
Even if you put that error aside, the unit could be considered a net negative on the night. Their zone entries looked laborious, and even when they did manage to gain the zone, they couldn’t hold it long enough to pose any real threat.
Oddly enough, their first attempt on the night was stellar. They offered up some quality scoring chances, and came very close to opening the scoring before their second attempt provided the aforementioned comedic goal against.
It makes you wonder about coaching changes to come in this offseason. Alex Burrows was hired in large part due to what he did with the Laval Rocket power play, but for all the success the Canadiens have had since their head coaching change, the power play has been inconsistent at best.
They’ve been playing much better hockey of late, but the power play appears to need a complete overhaul to match what they’re doing at five-on-five.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available on your podcast platform of choice. It’s a very short layoff, as we’ll be back for another episode after tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
