MONTREAL— Andrew Shaw said earlier this week that rest is a weapon.
The Montreal Canadiens turned that weapon on themselves in Friday’s 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks.
After losing 2-1 in overtime to the Boston Bruins Monday, the Canadiens took Tuesday off, had an optional practice Wednesday, focused mainly on special teams Thursday and followed it up with an optional skate on Friday.
The rust was apparent right from the start of the game against San Jose, as the Canadiens opened with three penalties in the offensive zone before the eight-minute mark and trailed 2-0 after nine.
“There’s really no excuse,” said Canadiens defenceman Nathan Beaulieu. “We have to take ownership. We just weren’t ready and, ultimately, it cost us.”
Shaw wasn’t available to play after the Canadiens announced late in the day he was experiencing concussion symptoms that came about on Thursday afternoon.
Forward Sven Andrighetto suffered an upper body injury on his second shift of the game, leaving the Canadiens shorthanded for the remainder of the evening.
By the time Sharks forward Timo Meier scored the first goal of his career by potting a rebound off David Schlemko’s point shot in the 14th minute of the first period, this game was all but out of reach.
It became officially so when Melker Karlsson’s goal, scored 6:44 into the second period, chased Canadiens goaltender Carey Price from his net.
It was the first time Price had been pulled from a game since Oct. 13, 2014. He shot an icy stare at the Montreal bench before taking his place in the backup’s chair.
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said afterwards that Price was pulled to send a message to his team and to preserve him for the start against the Washington Capitals on Saturday. That’s why the goalie wasn’t on the bench at the start of the third.
The rest of the Canadiens went to work, out-shooting the Sharks 24-8 and out-scoring them 2-0 over the final 40 minutes of play.
“It’s a long season and you know you gotta dig deep and battle back no matter what the score is,” said Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty, who left the game briefly in the second period to get a cut on his chin stitched after Marc-Edouard Vlasic’s stick clipped him. “But it was just too big a hole to dig ourselves out of.”
The slow start the Canadiens had is a product of a catch-22.
With the September World Cup and a bye week for every team in February, the condensed schedule forces coaches to offer rest to the players when they have the chance. But too much rest can dull the edge of a team.
Ahead of back-to-back games with two of the NHL’s most dangerous teams in San Jose and Washington, can anyone really blame Therrien for managing the last three days the way he did?
He’s not the only one doing it this way. New York Rangers coach Alain Vigneault has all but abstained completely from forcing players to skate the morning of game days, and Columbus Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella recently said he finds the morning skate to be a waste of energy and time.
January’s schedule will force Therrien to rest his players more than he’d probably like to, with the Canadiens playing 15 games in 31 days—six of them in back-to-back situations and eight of them on the road.
Not that a day off the ice means a day away from the rink.
“It’s not like guys are just sitting in front of the TV, with their feet up on the ottoman,” Therrien said in French on Friday morning. “They come to the rink, they work out; they’re not just sitting around.”
But practice makes perfect, and in hindsight a little bit more of it this week might have made the difference for the Canadiens on Friday.
