The Montreal Canadiens are in a bad position right now. Claude Julien’s team lost its sixth match in a row, and what it worse, they again conceded a huge amount of goals. The latest defeat came at home against the New Jersey Devils, 4-6.
The guests, who are the last-placed team of the Metropolitan Division, were exploiting the mistakes made by the hosts. And to be honest, there were quite a few of them throughout this event.
“I’m frustrated as hell right now, I can tell you that much. I’m tired of losing,” said Canadiens head coach, Claude Julien who was obviously disturbed with the lastest loss. “Our play without the puck, breakdowns, picking up the wrong man, making the wrong decision, bad line changes, we need to fix that stuff.
Montreal had 48 shots, but scored just four goals. Meanwhile, the Devils were clinical on breakaways or odd-man rushes, and four of their six hits came from those situations.
“We were able to use our speed in the transition and a couple of great plays by [Gusev] to get the pucks to the net, and we got rewarded,” Devils’ Blake Coleman said.
He was the one who netted the first goal in this game, at 7:19 into the first period, after a 2-on-1 situation. But the home team replied just 22 seconds later with Brendan Gallagher netting. The same way that tie came, it disappeared – quickly.
Some 36 seconds following Gallagher’s goal, Travis Zajac brought back the lead to the Devils.
The home team would level the score again, with 100 seconds of play inside the second frame. Yet, Miles Wood responded at 3:16 of the same period for 2-3. However, the stubborn Montreal wouldn’t give up, and Joel Armia’s wrist shot tied the game again midway through the second.
But even that didn’t last for too long, as Jesper Boqvist scores on a rebound after Nico Hischier’s shot. Once Damon Severson beat Carey Price at 8:21 of the last period, the visitors had a two-goal lead for the first time. Artturi Lehkonen brought back the hope to Bell Center 16 seconds later, but it all disappeared with 1:16 to go. Coleman sealed the match, scoring an empty-net goal.
This was the third game in a row in which the Canadiens allowed six or more goals. Over those three encounters, Julien’s team conceded 20 goals in total. Carey Price broke his stick after the fifth goal and was enraged with the development of the situation. His teammates were trying to explain at the press that none of those goals came from his mistake. Still, that didn’t comfort one of the best goalies in the league.
“We know how good he is, it’s not his fault,” Gallagher said. “That’s on us. We make the mistakes. You can’t give up these high-danger chances.”
Montreal (11-9-5) hosts the Philadelphia Flyers this Saturday, in the hope of snapping the negative streak. The Devils (9-11-4) await the New York Rangers on the same day.
