Canadiens Fall to Senators: Key Takeaways from the Game

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, looking to bounce back after a frustrating loss to the Colorado Avalanche on the weekend.

Head coach Martin St-Louis made one change to his lineup, opting to replace rookie Adam Engstrom with defenceman Jayden Struble.

The change made little difference in the long run, as the Senators emerged with a 5-2 win.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Communication Is Key

There was one particular play that caught my eye. The Habs were on the powerplay to close out the first period, and rather than shooting while the final seconds ran off the clock, they decided to make several passes. Shockingly, or not, the time ran out before anyone managed a half-decent shot on net.

The same situation played out at the end of the second period. Mike Matheson carried the puck up the ice, but rather than taking a shot with the time running out, he attempted yet another cross-ice pass.

Sometimes, it feels like the Canadiens are playing with pee-wee hockey’s unofficial rule to make sure some teams don’t run up the score, when all players must touch the puck before taking a shot.

The real issue is likely a lack of communication. It’s not the first time the Habs have played keep-away while the clock runs down, without anyone on the bench of the ice communicating the situation to the puck carrier.

On Saturday, we saw Brendan Gallagher sit on the bench instead of making a line change, which eventually led to a goal for the Colorado Avalanche. Of course, it was a mistake on Gallagher’s part, but the fact that no one noticed the Habs were lacking players on the ice, including the head coach, was a much bigger issue.

It’s up to the players to communicate clearly, however, it’s also the coach’s responsibility to remind them about the importance of communication.

Defensive Acumen Non-Existent

The Canadiens are having a very hard time maintaining any semblance of defensive positioning lately, and it’s leading to a lot of high-quality chances for opponents.

Obviously, that’s not a goaltending problem.

That being said, it’s only fair to also suggest the goaltending has been subpar. In fact, the Habs have one of the lowest team save percentages in the league (88.96%), and it’s starting to become impossible to ignore.

Montembeault wasn’t the reason the Habs were outplayed by the Senators in the first 40 minutes of the game, but his affinity for allowing a pair of questionable goals per game is clearly holding the team back. On Tuesday, he looked out of sorts, over-committing at times, not to mention failing to make basic saves occasionally.

Given his numbers this season, which are among the worst in the league, he’s unfortunately lost the benefit of the doubt, and consequently, will be judged harshly until he can find his rhythm.

Such is life as a goaltender in Montreal. It’s harsh considering how well Montembeault has played in the past, but his numbers in previous years have absolutely no bearing on his current form.

Kurtis MacDermid Is A Hockey Player, Technically

I’m not trying to be overly mean, but it’s quite clear that MacDermid is one of the worst players in the NHL. Not only are his underlying numbers hilariously poor, he doesn’t actually intimidate anyone on the ice, which is probably the only thing he was brought-in to do. The Senators are actually a pretty good team, but they’re making life more difficult on themselves any time they put MacDermid in the lineup.

Some Power In The Play

The Senators were the better team at 5v5, holding a 15-3 edge in high-quality chances, but the Canadiens managed to produce a little offence via the powerplay, which is rare at home.

Montreal has one of the best powerplays on the road, but they seem to struggle when at the Bell Centre. It’s one of those situations that’s very difficult to explain. In the end, the truth is that hockey can be pretty random.

The first powerplay goal for the Canadiens came after some great puck-movement, resulting in Juraj Slafkovsky‘s eighth goal of the year.

Nick Suzuki cut the lead to just 4-2 with a fantastic shot on the powerplay, after realizing that none of his teammates were going to move. Rather than waiting for a pass, he simply wired the puck past Ullmark to also score his eight goal of the year.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to compensate for Montreal’s lack of cohesion at 5v5.

The Size Of The Dog In The Fight

It’s always an entertaining game any time the Canadiens and Senators meet, though there were no fights this time around, which is rare.

On that note, we did see Lane Hutson out muscle Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, which was the epitome of entertainment when we consider the size disparity, and Tkachuk’s reputation as a rough-and-tumble player.

Stop Whining

Statistically speaking, the Montreal Canadiens do not get many powerplays, at least compared to most teams, but they’ve gotten in the habit of complaining about non-calls during the play, and it’s a terrible look for a professional team.

Hell, it would be a terrible look for an amateur team.

This time around it was Brendan Gallagher who took issue with the lack of a penalty, and not Josh Anderson like the last few occasions, but it took place moments before the Senators made it 5-2.

Referees will never reverse a call, and yelling at them only makes matters worse for all involved.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Wednesday, facing the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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