tomh009

From Arpon Basu’s outstanding article in the Athletic today: ”The Canadiens’ system is taxing and is difficult to play efficiently when the schedule gets squeezed a bit. It was at the quarter point of last season that we first saw it, and it has happened again at the quarter mark this season.”t (Sorry about the formatting). But Arpon accurately analyzed this as a repeat of last November’s collapse, when Armia andByron were injured.

Maybe. Or maybe not. If I were Bergevin, I’d really want to know what the hell is going on. I’d want to talk to the players (without Julien) to get their perspective, too. And to each of the assistants, one on one. And Julien, too, of course.

Yes, Drouin and Byron are injured. No, that does not excuse (or explain) tonight's performance.

Domi, Suzuki, Petry, Mete all -4 on the night.

I don't think we pin this particular game on Bergevin. Even that much-dreamed-of LD might not have made the difference here. Julien, on the other hand. The team is not playing the system (which would enable them to play much better) -- and that's the coach's job. And, no, I'm not calling for his replacement. At least not yet.

Same as last November.

I would still prefer to focus on getting a top defenceman. And getting someone who is proven at the NHL level. Lafreniere looks great but there have been many top draft picks over the years who have not been able to adapt to the NHL game, so he is far from risk-free.

It's not enough for a team to be out of the playoffs. You also need a team that's willing to let go (of the right) player, because that player doesn't really fit into their rebuild/retool/other plan.

Julien deserves some of that whupping himself, too. Some of the issues are down to coaching.

Yes. We have two solid young defencemen in Laval. Plus a recovering Juulsen.

Apart from the Suzuki-Domi-Lehkonen line's performance, it feels like the rest of the team was looking for new ways to lose. Can't blame this on just PK or on D, either. Price had a great first period, after that not so much. Forwards made some major mistakes. Bad (and unlucky) penalties were taken. Yeah, we're unhappy. But worse than that, the team has to be super demoralized after this. And that doesn't make the next game any easier.

Retribution for Lehkonen!

That double PK was huge. And Lehkonen might have had a second goal had Trouba not hooked him. Let's see how much they have left in the tank for the third.

Unbelievable. We had them at 4-0 ...

Wait, wait ... it's the last minute of the period ... and the Habs score? What's going on? But, yeah, Domi, Suzuki and Lehkonen seem to be finding the groove, which is awesome to see,

Lehkonen is finding his touch at the right time!

OK, I’ll show my age here. Who was that doing the player intros?

Lindgren is not doing any favours to his future prospects with his play so far this season. His percentage of shots allowed is almost 50% higher than Primeau’s. So far Bouchard is keeping the goalie workload pretty balanced, though.

Utica took off into an early 2-0 lead but the Rocket has clawed back to tie it on goals by Sklenica and Barber. Two assists for Peca.

Three stars Barber, Evans and Leskinen. Not sure whether Barber will make it to the NHL again, but I do expect that Evans and Leskinen will get there yet.

Alzner on the second pair ... shudder!

It does not, no. But neither does his injury impact the team as much as one to Price or Weber would. We argue about depth, or the lack thereof, and why we don’t have top-line forwards ready to go in Laval. But the reality is that any NHL team will have its 20 best players on its NHL roster, and its AHL players will be weaker than those 20: they will be weaker than the fourth-line or third-pair players on the NHL team. So when one of the NHL players is injured, and the team draws on its AHL roster, it will pick up a weaker player than the injured one. Every team. Every time. For no team does an injury improve the strength of the team.

Drouin at practice today! (OK, OK, only on the bench.)

McEneny not in the lineup yet.

I don't think it's an excuse: at 19, Kotkaniemi is simply not as far along the development curve. How much of the performance difference is because of that, I can't say. But a 19-year-old body is indeed still developing.