It would be too easy to lay last night’s debacle against the Seattle Kraken at the feet of Samuel Montembeault. The Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender had one of his worst nights, there is no sugar coating it, but the team in front of him did little defensively to give him an actual shot at making a difference in that game.
Two of the Kraken’s goals came directly off defensive zone face-offs, which have been extremely costly for the Habs this season. They aren’t particularly bad at winning draws, but what happens when they lose is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Not one player seems to know where to go when the puck hits the ice unless they immediately gain possession. They run around looking for their assignments in futility, and a couple of quick passes by the opposition lead to a scoring chance, which end up in the net more often than not. It’s embarrassing.
If you only look at the five-on-five numbers from last night, the Habs were the better team by most metrics. They controlled over 60% of shot attempts, shots, scoring chances, high-danger scoring chances, and expected goals. Stunningly, they were still outscored at five-on-five, because the limited high-danger chances they gave up – particularly those two off the draw – were so disastrous. Special teams were no help on the night either, but even if you erased every penalty they took, they still lose that game because of their inability to defend in their own zone.
Offensively, they’re capable of making enough happen to control the game at even strength, but the defensive side of the puck feels like they’re still hoping Carey Price will bail them out like he always used to. The next step for this team is to get a handle on their coverage, because Price isn’t coming back, and they can’t expect Montembeault to bail them out just because he has the ability to do that sporadically.
It’s hard to win NHL games. It’s a heck of a lot harder when every defensive zone draw feels like a 10-second countdown to the puck being in your net.
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