We are now 26 games into the regular season and I think we
have seen enough of this team to evaluate them. The 2014-2015 Montreal Canadiens are
very much a Jekyll and Hyde team. When they play well, they look like they
belong near the top of the league. Unfortunately when they lose, they lose big.
After winning six in a row, the Habs dropped a 5-0 road game against the less
than impressive looking New York Rangers, then dropped both games in a home and
home against last place Buffalo. On
Monday night the Habs were able to get back in the win column with a less than
impressive 4-3 win against the surging Colorado Avalanche.
Lets start
with the positives. The Canadiens possess one of the deepest offensive units in
the league and can roll four lines that can make the opposition pay. Max
Pacioretty has appeared to heat up offensively and Alex Galchenyuk continues to
make improvements. (Even if he has hit a bit of a cold streak) The newly
resigned Branden Gallagher remains a throne in the opposition’s side and while
producing valued offense and Thomas Plekanec remains good old reliable Thomas Plekanec.
The off season acquisitions to the Canadiens have also pay big dividends for the
team. P.A. Parenteau has proven to a clutch player scoring timely goals, Tom
Gilbert has been an staple on defense (pay no mind to his haters) and Manny
Malhotra has done exactly what he was asked to do. Malholtra leads the NHL in face-off wins and his success has seemed to rub off on the other Habs centres.
The jury still remains out on Sergei Gonchar, Bryan Allen and Eric Tangradi until they have
played more games.
Now to the
negatives; Man is that defense old. That
was clearly evident Monday night in Denver when the speedy Avalanche forwards flew
right past the Montreal defense. That
aging defense looked their age out there. I will admit that it is a bit
disconcerting that management relies so much on the likes of Gonchar, Allen and
Gilbert while Nathan Beaulieu, Jared Tinordi and Greg Pateryn languish in the
AHL. You have to believe that those guys will start to wear down as the season
goes on.
Another
concern is the play of PK Subban. While he is by no means playing poorly, he is
playing very un-Subban like. He has gotten off to a less than stellar offensive
start and the hope is that he can start to heat up, as the games get more
important.
As of
December 3rd the Montreal
Canadiens sit 2nd in the Atlantic Division with 36 points with a
17-7-2 record. All in all I think their positive record is reflective of the
way the team has played, but the opposition continues to make ground. The
Lightning sit one point ahead while the Red Wings and Maple Leafs continue to
surge and you can never count out the Bruins.
No comments:
Post a Comment