It's Gut Check Time
If the Canadiens were lulled into a trance playing the likes of the lackluster Islanders, disappointing Sabres, underwhelming Panthers and "why do they even exist?" Blue Jackets in recent weeks, they're in for a rude awakening coming up as the Habs welcome the Cup-favorite Vancouver Canucks to the Bell Centre on Tuesday and then take on the surging Bruins Thursday at the Boston Gar....Fleet Cen....TD Bankno....whatever arena the Bruins play at.
There are a lot of things plaguing the Canadiens currently that will be exploited by these two strong teams if they aren't corrected quickly. Hell, when your top line has been Benoit Pouliot, Jeff Halpern and Mathieu Darche over the last few games, that alone should be raising flags as to the problems that this team is suffering from. The most alarming thing over the last week, a week in which the Habs lost three out of the four games, have been the scoring chances given up.
There are a lot of things plaguing the Canadiens currently that will be exploited by these two strong teams if they aren't corrected quickly. Hell, when your top line has been Benoit Pouliot, Jeff Halpern and Mathieu Darche over the last few games, that alone should be raising flags as to the problems that this team is suffering from. The most alarming thing over the last week, a week in which the Habs lost three out of the four games, have been the scoring chances given up.
Just going by the eye test, Carey Price had to make far more miraculous saves against Columbus and Ottawa than should be expected of him. This is in stark contrast to the disciplined defense the team was playing earlier on in the year. Jacques Martin has tried to solve this by changing up his defensive pairings but as ineffective as this strategy is with scoring lines, it's even more ineffective with defensive pairings. A defensive pairing is a lot like a figure skating pair, and I assure you this will be the only time I ever use a figure skating reference to make a point about hockey. My point is, in figure skating you need to use your instincts to know where your partner is and what he/she is doing at all times for the pair to be successful. Same thing goes for hockey defensemen. By now, if Josh Gorges is being pestered by an aggressive fore check, he knows where Hal Gill is to bail him out. He may not know where Andrei Markov is. The ensuing turnover caused by that unfamiliarity can often lead to goals....game-winning goals...for the other team.
Then there's the team's offensive struggles. The way things have gone, the Habs wouldn't be able to score with a cougar during Happy Hour at Thursdays. The entire "guys being paid to score have to start scoring" horse has been beaten to death unmercifully but the top six are going to have to come up big this week for the team to have success. Brian Gionta finally potted one on Saturday night but let's be honest, that was a shot 90% of NHL goaltenders would got their blocker on to direct the puck away and even Brian Elliott himself would stop nine times out of 10. But maybe that isn't the point. Maybe finally putting in his second shot out of his team-leading 54 will be enough to get that massive weight off his tiny shoulders. Maybe teams will start respecting his ability to score again which would certainly help Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn and Michael Cammalleri, who've had the unfortunate task of seeing the other team's top shutdown guys every shift.
Finally, we get to the most glaring of weaknesses right now. The power play. As the seconds of each Canadiens power play tick down without a goal being scored, the confirmations that Marc-André Bergeron is sitting at home on his couch grow louder and louder. Maybe MAB and his big shot would help, it certainly did last season. But the Canadiens have the pieces in-house to at least have a competent power play. Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban have exceptional mobility and passing ability and decent shots that demand respect from opponents. Once he finally gets right, Scott Gomez has the ability to find the team's finishers, Gionta, Cammalleri and Kostitsyn. Plekanec and, for now, Benoit Pouliot are also dangerous with the man-advantage. The unit will click, it's just a matter of time. But if that time doesn't come this week, the Habs could be in trouble.
The Canadiens have a reputation for playing down to their opponent's ability but as the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins learned in last spring's playoffs, they've also earned the reputation of playing up to their opponents. For the sake of fan sanity and sports talk radio switchboards, let's hope the Habs continue to live up to that reputation this week.
Will Martinez runs the 'Hey, My Name is Will' blog and is a contributor for TheFranchise.ca. You can follow Will on Twitter @heymynameiswill
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