When you stop to think about it, no one should be surprised the Montreal Canadiens missed a golden opportunity on Thursday night vs. the last-place Philadelphia Flyers. Hanging on to the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot, the Habs lost 6-4, effectively wasting a chance to put much needed separation in the standings between them and the teams trailing them.
The New York Islanders (same amount of games played) and Rangers (one more game played) each have one fewer point than the Canadiens. The Columbus Blue Jackets meanwhile are two back, with one game in hand. So, while the Habs still find themselves in a playoff spot on Friday morning, their hold on one is far from secure, at least not as secure as it could be following two straight sobering losses in regulation.
Their 6-1 defeat to the St. Louis Blues earlier in the week definitely sucked. Many could rationalize it as it coming at the hands of a team that is just as hot and desperate as the Canadiens had been. Losing to the Flyers is significantly more disappointing. However, it shouldn’t be shocking, considering the host Flyers had just fired head coach John Tortorella, most likely making them anxious as a collective group to prove themselves as competent.
Of course, that doesn’t excuse the Canadiens. It’s also something Habs fans probably should have quasi-expected based on recent history. No, seemingly more often than not, they’ve more so pleasantly surprised this season. However, as these seven games, each arguably more painful reminders of their propensity to leave points on the table, show, not all is lost. They’re still very much in the race.
Nov. 5: 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary Flames (at home)
Calgary Flames forward Matt Coronato played the role of hero in this one. He scored the game-tying goal late in the third, not to mention the overtime winner just seven seconds into the extra frame… which isn’t even the most heartbreaking example of an overtime goal scored on the Canadiens on this list.
Similar to the Blues above, the Flames are currently fighting for their playoff lives. So, this loss could be worse, especially seeing as the Canadiens still got a point out of it (when they also lost to them in painful 1-0 fashion earlier this month, with much more at stake so late in the season). However, this one definitely stung by virtue of the Habs having held a late third-period lead.
Nov. 30: 4-3 regulation loss to New York Rangers (on the road)
At least the Canadiens held a third-period lead against the Flames above? Against the Rangers, the Habs, to their credit, rallied from two down in the third to tie it in the final frame, only for Kaapo Kakko, obviously before his trade to the Seattle Kraken, to score the game-winning goal with less than 30 seconds left.
What really stands out here are two things:
- Based on where the two teams are in the standings, this game can really come back to bite the Canadiens.
- Based on how the Rangers had been playing at the time, having lost five in a row heading in (and eventually going 4-15 to end the calendar year), they had been ripe for the beating and the Habs squandered a chance to earn at least a point, if not two, by mere seconds.
Dec. 23: 5-4 regulation loss to Columbus Blue Jackets (on the road)
This loss was arguably the result of Canadiens forward Patrik Laine’s poor judgment, after he called out his former team for their supposedly losing culture prior to the game. Of note, up until that point, the Blue Jackets had been having a poor month, on a 2-6-3 stretch immediately beforehand.
Not only did Laine, who ended up only playing 6:15, after reportedly having been targeted physically in the contest, give the host Jackets bullet-board material ahead of their eventual 5-4 win against the Canadiens. They ended up going on a 9-2 run right afterwards, meaning he probably motivated them to help salvage their season (and potentially ruin the Habs’, if they’re able to sneak into a playoff spot at their expense in the end).
Related: Canadiens Must Exercise Caution with Laine in Wake of Latest Injury
The game itself was a back-and-forth affair, in which the Canadiens trailed 3-1 in the second period, only to take a 4-3 lead 20 seconds into the third. Dmitri Voronkov tied it up on the power play a few minutes later, following a needless Cole Caufield hooking penalty. Kirill Marchenko scored the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal at 17:48 to send the Habs, who had been in the midst of their own impressive 16-6-1 run to climb out of the Eastern Conference basement, packing without so much as a point (but hopefully a lesson learnt).
Jan. 3: 4-2 regulation loss to Chicago Blackhawks (on the road)
Seeing as the Canadiens’ next loss was to the then-last-place Chicago Blackhawks (in the entire league), maybe not… at least if the lesson to be taken away from the previous game on this list was to not take any opponent for granted.
In the Canadiens’ defense, they did by and large outplay the Blackhawks, outshooting them 40-26. However, that doesn’t make this 4-2 loss, any less embarrassing. It does help put the loss to the Flyers in the proper perspective. The Habs have lost to weak opponents before, weaker than the Flyers, and have come out the other side in one piece. They still can. In fact, the very next night, they beat the powerhouse Colorado Avalanche 2-1 in a shootout.
Jan. 18: 7-3 regulation loss to Toronto Maple Leafs (at home)
This is the worst loss on the list in terms of magnitude, but maybe also because it came at the hands of the rival Toronto Maple Leafs, especially considering the circumstances. Normally, if you lose by four goals, you’re not exactly considered to have had a chance to pick up points. However, because the Canadiens held a 3-0 lead midway through the second period, you would have thought they’d have been able to at least hold on to earn a point against an admittedly tough opponent.
It wasn’t meant to be, though. The Leafs chipped away with two goals in the second period before William Nylander tied it mere seconds into the third. Oliver Ekman-Larsson gave them their first lead of the game a few minutes later and Auston Matthews effectively sealed it with a shorthanded goal to put them up 5-3.
The Leafs added two more to close the scoring at an embarrassing 7-3, including another shorthanded goal into the empty net. However, that was more insult to injury than any point having been proven. it was fairly clear puling the goalie wasn’t going to do much with the ice having been tilted in a single direction for half the game, despite the Canadiens’ 35-34 edge in shots.
Jan. 30: 4-0 regulation loss to Minnesota Wild (at home)
The second four-goal defeat, not just on this list, but in a row, goes to show the small taste of success Canadiens fans got with the aforementioned 16-6-1 run left them with higher expectations, despite the Habs technically still being in the throes of a years-long rebuild. Even so, the Habs should have performed much better here.
Everything had been aligned for them to nip a prolonged losing streak, which stood at three games heading in, in the bud. The visiting Minnesota Wild had beaten the Maple Leafs the night before and were playing backup Marc-Andre Fleury (in the Quebec native’s potentially last game in Montreal). They had also played a separate set of back-to-back games a few days beforehand.
In contrast, the Canadiens on the other hand should have been incredibly well-rested. However, in getting outshot 27-19, they seemed more awe-struck by Fleury, waiting on the ice to shake his hand after the game to congratulate him on his career… classy, sure, but unnecessary considering the optics. Ultimately, the Habs went on to go 1-7-1 prior to the 4 Nations Face-Off, this loss figuring in heavily. Despite having been well-rested on paper, it looked like their run had run out of gas.
March 12: 5-4 overtime loss to Seattle Kraken (on the road)
Of course, the Canadiens admirably won five in a row following the tournament to help convince general manager Kent Hughes to keep the band together ahead of the trade deadline. Prior to their recent losses to the Flyers and Blues, they had gone an impressive 8-1-4 overall since the tournament. This 5-4 defeat to the Kraken, in which Brandon Montour both opened the scoring and closed it with a goal a record four seconds into overtime, accounted for one of the non-regulation losses.
Whether you think it was a legitimate goal or not, Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky’s 4-2 go-ahead marker in the third, his second of the game, was also of the dubious variety (maybe going in off a high-stick). The fact that they let the Kraken back in the game, when leading by two goals in the third should be the real takeaway here.
With the Kraken being on relatively equal footing compared to the Flyers, this was arguably even more embarrassing than their latest loss. Sure, the Flyers only had a single victory in their last 12 games before beating the Canadiens, but they were obviously due for a wake-up call of some sort.
That cold, hard logic may not make it hurt any less in the immediate aftermath, but maybe this will: While the Canadiens could certainly be significantly higher in the standings based on the games they let slip through their fingers up to now, they’re still in a playoff spot. Things could be worse. Now losers of four straight (two in regulation), they need a wake-up call of their own before it’s too late.
Maybe this was it.
