Mar 19 Collectively, the Canadiens Just Don't Have "It"- Another Loss under Bob Gainey Vs Ottawa Senators

For a blissful, fleeting moment, the Montreal Canadiens had a lead at the 2:04 mark of the first period on a goal from Guillaume Latendresse and all was well in Habdom. This was directly followed by a offensive zone penalty which resulted in Ottawa getting a power-play goal only 51 seconds later and the Canadiens would never lead again. The Habs, on a 4 goals on 15 shots Carey Price performance would go on to lose to Ottawa by a score of 5-4, but don't let the score fool you.

Were it not for the energy line of Latendresse, Lapierre and Kostopoulos, who combined for 3 of the Montreal goals, this would have looked far worse and should be another warning sign that this team apparently does not have the heart, energy or will to do what it takes to play hockey. And the players that do are just too worried about making mistakes, that they inevitably do.

I stopped counting the defensive zone turnovers when I reached the double digits and I was still watching the first period at the time. The Canadiens may have abandoned Guy Carbonneau, but have they also abandonned all hope? One would think so with the play on the ice as prime evidence.

Bob Gainey tried putting most of the early season line-ups back together in the hopes of rekindling past magic; he was only 25% right. The Kovalev, Kostitsyn, Plekanec line was inexistent. Koivu, who is rumoured to have already signed an extension contract, did not appear to be playing like someone who did. The rookie line featuring D'agostini and Pacioretty were just that, but thank goodness for the workers in Latendresse, Lapierre and Kostopoulos.

This is the only line that actually seems to have some chemistry and it showed. They communicated, they worked and they scored. Also, they seemed genuinely, extremely happy when they did score, something we had not seen for a while, which leads one to believe that there may be a tiny glimmer of hope that there are still elements on the team that will try to win before the season is over and attempt to grab that last rung on the playoff ladder. As they sit today, Montreal is tied for 8th and can only thank their lucky stars that the teams below them haven't been doing any better or the playoff picture would be bleaker than it actually appears to be today.

Interested in the scoring and NHL recap? Read on here .

photo from habsinsideout.com

Tags: Alex Kovalev \ bob gainey \ Carey price \ Guillaume Latendresse \ habs \ Maxim Lapierre \ Montreal Canadiens \ NHL \ Ottawa Senators \ Saku Koivu