As we near the halfway mark of the season, the Montreal Canadiens are languishing at the bottom of the NHL standings.
We all know the Habs aren’t good enough to be in last place, but it doesn’t stop us from hoping. They don’t have to be the worst-built team in the NHL to be considered such. Right? Injury and outbreaks of Covid contributed to their demise as the worst team in the NHL this season, even though they aren’t excellent.
That’s What I’m Getting at. Do they not Belong More in the Centre of the Field?
At least until yesterday, I thought so. The Montreal Canadiens faced the Arizona Coyotes, widely regarded as the league’s worst team heading into the 2017-18 campaign.
Conor Garland, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Christian Dvorak, and Darcy Kuemper were all dealt away by the Coyotes in the recent offseason. Among those who left the team as free agents were Alex Goligoski, Michael Bunting, Derick Brassard, and Tyler Pitlick. Niklas Hjalmarsson has announced his retirement from professional hockey.
A group of overpaid veterans, such as Andrew Ladd, Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle and Loui Eriksson, took their place so that they could meet the bare minimum wage standards.
As a Species, Coyotes were Designed to be Vicious. Their Work is Excellent, too.
With a record of 8-24-4, the Montreal Canadiens were their opponents in yesterday’s game against the Ottawa Senators. Their one-point advantage over last-placed Montreal was the result of playing the same number of games.
Even yet, the Habs didn’t truly belong in the bottom three. Right? This degree of incompetence won’t endure long.
Last night, the Canadiens were clearly the second-worst team in the NHL’s bottom two, trailing by quite a little.
Coyotes thrashing of Canadiens proves the Habs’ rightful place at the top of the NHL standings.
Early in the first period, Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz set up Travis Boyd for a goal, and little over eight minutes into the game, Phil Kessel found Johan Larsson with a great cross-ice pass and it was 2-0. Once the Habs were within one goal, Janis Moser scored to put the game out of reach. Despite a goal from Ryan Poehling, the Coyotes went into the third period with a two-goal advantage.
It seems reasonable to think that the Canadiens, trailing by two goals to the league’s second-worst team, would go all out in the final 20 minutes to try to tie the game.
To the contrary, they could muster no offence at all. In the first half of the third quarter, they didn’t even have a shot on goal. They appeared lifeless, unable to keep up or compete with the league’s worst-built team.
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Conclusion
I’ve always thought this club was a little off this season, and they should be a lot better. However, their performance against the Arizona Coyotes on Wednesday night shown that they aren’t even.
