Habs Embarrassed at Home 5-2 By Mapleleafs but Have Yet to Hit Rock Bottom
After tonight's 5-2 drubbing at the hands of the Toronto Mapleleafs, you know you will continue watching the Montreal Canadiens until season's end. And you will do so for the same reason we all cannot look away from an accident along the highway.
The Habs, despite themselves, are still in eighth place tonight thanks to 2 goals in 1:14 by Raffi Torres of the Columbus BlueJackets in the dying minutes of the 3rd that kept the Panthers from leapfrogging over them. So the question remains, as the Habs head into a week of games that they should technically win, will they finally turn it around, or will they sink deeper into their self inflicted, abysmal downward spiral?
Their next 3 games are against the Thrashers, Lightning and Sabres, all teams that are on the outside looking in, and with the exception of Buffalo, have no chance of grabbing a playoff spot, but one has to wonder after the lack of composure, team effort and steady goaltending if the Canadiens can regroup in time to salvage the season.
Once sitting in the top 4 of the eastern conference the Canadiens must now string up some consecutive wins or risk being ousted from the spring dance.
Since Guy Carbonneau was fired on March 9th, the Canadiens are 1-3-2 with no signs of a team that is feeding off a coaching change which is ironic as it seemed clear that the team was no longer on the same page as Carbo.
After tonight's game, I finally started to understand why many pundits are crying for more francophones on the team, or that the next coach should be a Quebecker. The difference makers in the last couple of games? Lapierre, Tanguay and Latendresse. It's as if these players have a vested interest or sense of national duty to give it all they have in order to win it for "Les Glorieux". They get it. The mystique, the privelege, the honor, le Canadien.
But before I spark a debate, you can also say that Higgins, Kostopoulos, Plekanec and Gorges have also been putting forth effort as well. I believe we are witnessing a clear rift between the old and new guard where it is perhaps about time for a case of "out with the old, in with the new."
All I can say, is that I will be watching the Habs, whether they make the playoffs or not, right up until the 2009 draft, or what is also known as "Trade deadline part 2" to see how this intriguing saga ends.
Read on for the NHL game recap and boxscores.
photo from habsinsideout.com
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