If the Canadiens end up missing the playoffs for a third straight season, the Detroit Red Wings will have played a big role in that.
Same thing with the New Jersey Devils.
The Red Wings still have the worst record in the NHL (9-17-5) after beating the Canadiens 2-1 Saturday night at the Bell Centre. The Red Wings also beat the Canadiens 4-2 on Oct. 10 in their home opener at the Bell Centre. The Red Wings rank last in the NHL in both offence and defence, scoring an average of 2.12 goals per game, while allowing an average of 3.82.
The Devils are the second-worst team in the NHL with a 10-17-5 record, but they have also beaten the Canadiens twice at the Bell Centre this season: 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 16 and 6-4 on Nov. 28.
So, out of a possible eight points against the two worst teams in the NHL on home ice, the Canadiens have picked up only one loser point. That hurts.
Thankfully for the Canadiens, the Red Wings and Devils won’t play at the Bell Centre again this season.
The Canadiens outshot the Red Wings 43-20 Saturday night, but only got the one goal from Tomas Tatar with 47 seconds left in the game.
“If you want to score goals, get to the net and find ways to outwork the goalie,” the Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher said after the game. “We didn’t do that tonight and we probably got the result that we deserved.
“Every team’s a challenge,” Gallagher added about losing all four games against the Red Wings and Devils. “There’s no easy nights in this league. You can say whatever you want, if you don’t play good enough you’re not going to win and tonight, even though we had more shots, they were probably the better team. A lot of our chances were from the outside. We didn’t get enough quality scoring chances and when we did, we didn’t bury them.”
Canadiens played ‘soft’
In his postgame news conference, coach Claude Julien agreed with Gallagher that the Canadiens didn’t go to the net nearly enough.
“There was some guys that went to the front of the net, but we had a lot of guys that didn’t want to get on the inside there,” Julien said. “ I thought we played a little bit soft tonight at times. We weren’t finishing, we weren’t in the battle and we just kind of looked to play an easier game than we should have and because of that we got burnt.”
The Canadiens now have an 8-8-3 record at home and are 7-4-3 on the road. Saturday’s official attendance was 21,302, marking only the ninth time in 19 home games the Bell Centre has been sold out.
“We’ve been good on the road, we haven’t been good enough at home,” Julien said. “We don’t play as hard at home so far … we haven’t played as hard as we have on the road. So that needs to change.”
Hitting the road
The Canadiens’ next seven games are all on the road, which might be a good thing at this point. They don’t play again at the Bell Centre until Jan. 2 when the Tampa Bay Lightning will be the visitors.
“Obviously, it’s always nice to be on the road, get the guys together and spend a little bit more time together,” Tatar said. “I think we’re really looking forward to it. It’s going to be really tough. Every road game is a battle. So it’s going to be a tough seven games, but hopefully we’ll get ready for it.”
Tatar didn’t think the Canadiens played that bad against the Red Wings.
“We had a lot of chances, a lot of shots,” said Tatar, who leads the Canadiens in scoring with 12-17-29 totals. “We weren’t able to put the puck in the net. It’s so frustrating at the moment. They played well, but I think we had a lot of chances.”
Where they stand
The Canadiens (15-12-6) remain in a playoff spot, barely hanging onto third place in the Atlantic Division with 36 points.
The Canadiens are tied in points with Toronto (16-14-4), but have played one less game than the Maple Leafs. The Canadiens are one point ahead of both the Lightning (16-12-3) and the Florida Panthers (15-12-5).
Those lost points against both the Red Wings are Devils are already looking very costly.
“We really aren’t in a bad spot, but we also have to have some awareness that eventually there’s some teams that are going to catch fire and I’d like that to be our team,” Julien said. “There’s a battle there … we’re not in a bad spot, but there’s a real battle that every night there’s some movement there in the standings. We’re in that situation right now that if we don’t win on a regular basis we’re going to slide down and I’d like us to win a little bit more on a consistent basis so we can move up.
“I guess that’s the pressure that every team in this league has to go through now,” the coach added. “It is what it is. There’s no such thing anymore as: Let’s just play 82 games here and we’ll be fine. Every night’s a big night and every win’s a big win. So we have to look at it that way and make sure that we’re ready to bounce back here in Vancouver.”
The Canadiens next game is Tuesday night in Vancouver against the Canucks.
Some stats
Ben Chiarot led the Canadiens in ice time with 26:45, followed by Shea Weber (25:30) and Jeff Petry (21:13). Joel Armia led the forwards in ice time with 18:14. Riley Barber had a team-low 8:15 of ice time but also led the Canadiens in hits with six.
Weber led the team with six shots, while Brett Kulak had five.
Phillip Danault went 13-for-18 in the faceoff circle (72 per cent), while Nate Thompson was 5-for-7 (71 per cent). Max Domi was only 6-for-16 (38 per cent).
The three stars
The Red Wings swept the three stars.
Goalie Jonathan Bernier was the first star after stopping 42 of the 43 shots he faced. Defenceman Mike Green was the second star with a goal and an assist, while Tyler Bertuzzi was the third star with a goal.
Leskinen sent down to Laval
After the game, the Canadiens announced that defenceman Otto Leskinen has been sent down to the AHL’s Laval Rocket and that forward Lukas Vejdemo has been called up.
Leskinen was pointless in five games with the Canadiens and had only 8:35 of ice time against the Red Wings. Vejdemo has 8-8-16 totals in 29 games with the Rocket. The Canadiens selected 5-foot-11, 183-pound Finn in the third round (87th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft. He has yet to play a game in the NHL.
Lindgren called up, Primeau sent down
The Canadiens announced Saturday morning that they had called up goalie Charlie Lindgren from the Rocket and sent down Cayden Primeau.
Lindgren was Carey Price’s backup for Saturday night’s game and will also be on the Canadiens’ Western Canada road trip next week. Primeau was in goal for the Rocket Saturday afternoon at Place Bell, allowing five goals on 32 shots in a 5-0 loss to the Rochester Americans.
“We need for him to play,” Julien said about Primeau Saturday morning as the Canadiens held an optional skate at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. “On this road trip, playing every second day, a good chance you’re going to see Carey in most if not all the games. (Primeau’s) a young goaltender that will benefit from playing vs. being a backup.”
Primeau made two starts with the Canadiens after getting called up from the Rocket, posting a 1-1-0 record with a 2.52 goals-against average and a .931 save percentage. With the Rocket, the 20-year-old now has a 7-5-1 record with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.
Lindgren has a 7-6-2 record with the Rocket, along with a 2.67 goals-against average and a .893 save percentage. The 25-year-old Lindgren stopped 17 of 20 shots for the Rocket in a 3-2 loss to Rochester Friday night at Place Bell and was told after the game by Laval coach Joël Bouchard that he was getting called up by the Canadiens.
“I’ve been playing really good in Laval,” Lindgren said after taking part in Saturday’s morning skate. “I think I’m playing some really good hockey, so confidence is definitely there. I just got to keep carrying forward.”
Lindgren was disappointed he didn’t get the call from the Canadiens when they decided to bring up Primeau.
“As a competitor, obviously I was pretty upset and I’m here now so that’s what matters,” Lindgren said. “Just got to keep on playing like I know I can and I know everything will work out.”
Keith Kinkaid, who started the season as Price’s backup, has a 1-1-0 record with a 3.77 goals-against average and a .870 save percentage since being sent down to Laval. With the Canadiens, Kinkaid was 1-1-3 with a 4.24 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage.
Poehling back with Habs
Ryan Poehling, who was called up from the Rocket on Friday, was in the Canadiens’ lineup against the Red Wings, playing left wing on the fourth line with centre Nate Thompson and Barber. Poehling had two shots and one hit in 9:26 of ice time.
Paul Byron, who practised with the Canadiens on Friday for the first time since knee surgery on Nov. 19, won’t play and also won’t make next week’s road trip to Western Canada. Byron did not take part in Saturday’s morning skate.
“Paulie’s not ready,” Julien said Saturday morning. “Paulie is going to be staying behind on this road trip. After yesterday’s practice I think he needs a little bit more time and so we’re going to give him that. To push him right now would be taking a risk and we don’t want to do that after being out for this long. So we’re going to give him a little bit more time.”
Kotkaniemi, Mete will make road trip
Julien said Victor Mete (ankle) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (concussion) will both make the Western Canada road trip as they continue to recover from injuries.
“They’ll be making the trip out West, yes,” the coach said Saturday morning. “I don’t know if they’ll be well enough to play, but they’ll be close if not.”
Mete hasn’t played since suffering his injury in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 30, while Kotkaniemi has been sidelined since suffering a concussion in a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 5. Both players have been skating this week.
What’s next?
The Canadiens will fly to Vancouver on Sunday afternoon to begin their annual Western Canada road trip. They will play the Canucks Tuesday (10 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio), the Calgary Flames on Thursday (9 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio), the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday (7 p.m., CITY, SNE, TVA Sports) and the Winnipeg Jets the following Monday (8 p.m., TSN2, TSN3, RDS, TSN 690 Radio).
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