MANHATTAN — This was a disappointing night for the Montreal Canadiens, and not just because they squandered two big leads they barely earned in a 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Rangers.
No, what was even more disappointing was that some of the Canadiens viewed it as a game they should’ve won but lost.
The truth is they deserved to lose.
The Canadiens started poorly, despite Zachary Bolduc later referring to it as “a good start.” They mismanaged the puck from the second it dropped at centre ice, enabling the skilled Rangers to set up camp in their zone. And even if they didn’t give up a goal while failing to generate a shot through the first 12:40 of the game, they gave up more than enough chances to be trailing by more than one.
Conflating a 3-0 lead with a “good start” because Bolduc scored the first of three straight goals for the Canadiens between 12:41 and 16:18 of the first is immature. Immediately sleeping on that lead and allowing it to all but disappear before the end of the first period is also immature.
And Josh Anderson saying the Canadiens “played the right way” when his goal came in the fourth minute of the second period and preceded the three that the Rangers scored over the rest of the game smacks of the type of immaturity that should be highly concerning to the team’s brass.
How will the Canadiens grow up as much as they need to if they don't honestly assess themselves after such a performance?
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis didn’t mince words about the loss. He referenced a lack of maturity throughout his first few minutes in French before detailing in plain English precisely what was immature about his team’s performance.
“It’s just the awareness of where we are in the game, and the decisions of plays and where you go on the ice,” St. Louis said. “It’s not one thing; it’s just being aware of where you are in the game.”
Here’s some situational awareness the Canadiens should’ve had before the start: They won in Pittsburgh on Thursday, they flew to New York, they were smartly kept off the ice for Friday and Saturday morning to conserve energy — ahead of back-to-back games involving travel and a total of six games to be played over nine nights — and there was a need to manage the puck simply and efficiently to build up the rhythm that might have been lost from not touching it for nearly 48 hours.
Instead, the Canadiens tried passing it through a Rangers team that flew out of the gate and applied all kinds of pressure on them.
“The only positive was we executed on some of the chances we had, and they didn’t,” said Lane Hutson.
At least he saw his team’s start for what it actually was — fortunate.
But a 21-year-old kid with all of 120 games of experience in the league better not be the only one.
And a 31-year-old veteran of over 700 games in the league like Anderson can’t be saying stuff like, “I think we were just playing simple, playing our brand of hockey, and I thought everyone was going tonight,” after a game like that.
The Canadiens generated just 17 shots and were credited with nearly as many giveaways through close to 63 minutes of play.
SportLogiq’s game report said they spent nearly four fewer minutes than the Rangers in the offensive zone. It said they gave up 15 chances off turnovers, 16 off the cycle and 18 from the high-danger zone, which was far more than they generated in all those situations. And it said they won just 36.2 per cent of the battles for the puck.
We’re going to give Anderson the benefit of the doubt because in all the years we’ve spoken to him after tough losses, he’s always shot as straight as they come. We’re going to also acknowledge that he admitted the Canadiens surrendered momentum and were undisciplined on this night — J.T. Miller’s winner came with Jake Evans sitting in the box for slashing — and we’ll consider he didn’t have a chance to review the game before speaking.
But if he watches it over and still thinks the Canadiens “played the right way,” and “played simple,” and “had everyone going,” it’ll be shocking.
It’s also possible Anderson’s perspective might have been influenced by the way he played the game, which was better than a lot of his teammates.
He scored, he had Montreal’s best scoring chances off the rush, and he was credited with a team-high seven controlled zone exits.
But there were players who did a lot less in a lot more ice time than Anderson’s 11:49, and they need to look themselves in the mirror after a game like that and realize it cost the Canadiens a precious point in the standings.
“I’m happy we play tomorrow, and we’re going to have to play a very mature game,” said St. Louis about Sunday’s contest against the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre.
We asked him how important it would be for his team to arrive at the same conclusions he had about its performance.
“Of course, it’s gotta be a group decision,” St. Louis said. “We’re trying to steer them, and at the end of the day it’s a group decision.”
The Canadiens better decide to learn from everything that happened at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, because they deserved exactly what they got from start to finish and it’s what they’re going to get more often than not if they don’t face facts and correct themselves.
