Montreal Candiens Winning Streak Ends At Nine
The Montreal Canadiens nine game winning streak to start the 2015-2016 NHL season is over. The Habs were ambushed by the Canucks in Vancouver on Tuesday night, the victim of a determined opponent, listless play and some ‘bad bounces’. The Canadiens were down 3-0 at the end of the first period and mounted little in the way of a comeback, eventually losing 5-1. Vancouver was a team desperate to win their first home game of the season, and were happy to do so at Montreal’s expense.
Since the beginning of the season, Canadiens head coach Michel Therien has placed an emphasis on getting off to a strong start in every game. The team had responded to this directive and heading into the game at Vancouver had trailed for less than 3 minutes (2:57) in nine games. On Tuesday night, they never led and dug themselves into a first period hole that they could not escape. Captain Max Pacioretty conceded that his team was responsible for a very poor defensive effort: “It was a poor effort to start the game, especially in our own end. We had chances in the first, but we just didn’t capitalize. You can’t just abandon your own end, though. They got off to a 3-0 lead. It’s tough to come back in this league against something like that.”
Another problem for the Canadiens was that the effort just wasn’t there. The Canucks came out smoking from the opening faceoff and Montreal did nothing to match it. This, according to Pacioretty was another problem: “They definitely came out hard, and we didn’t match their intensity. There’s no excuse for that. Teams like Vancouver are known for playing hard at home. We came out here, and they wanted to prove that they could beat us, especially in their own barn. They outplayed us, especially in the first.”
Torrey Mitchell scored the only goal for the Habs and admitted that ‘the better team won’: “I think the better team won. We weren’t aggressive enough. I don’t think anyone liked the way we started. When you start out down three goals, it’s tough to come back. We did better as the game went on, but it’s so difficult to come back. The effort with this group is always there, but I think when it comes to details in the defensive zone – and in the neutral zone – it just wasn’t good enough.”
Montreal will try to get back on the winning track on Thursday night as they face Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place.