It might be early in the season, but the Montreal Canadiens already find themselves with their backs against the wall.
The Montreal Canadiens are feeling about as much pressure as a team could feel entering the second weekend of the 2017-18 season. They have a 1-3 record and have only scored four goals in their four games to begin the year. The stat sheet might read Montreal has five goals but the fifth goal came courtesy of the shootout-winning goal in their only victory of the season.
To make matters worse, they’ll host the high-powered offense of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, Oct. 14 with their 3-1 record and 22 goals in four games. The pressure has quickly mounted on the Canadiens, making Saturday’s matchup against the Maple Leafs as close to a must-win game as it can get in mid-October. Not only is Toronto’s 3-1 record in the same division as Montreal, but the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Lightning have also gotten off to 3-1 starts in the division as well.
Given the success of other teams in the Atlantic Division, if the Canadiens continue to struggle, they could find themselves in a hole they won’t be able to get out of. After all, it’s awfully difficult to climb the standings when the team can’t score.
This isn’t the first time Montreal has struggled to score either. The Canadiens were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season by the New York Rangers and in their four losses in the series managed only four goals.
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Entering the offseason, finding more offensive weapons should have been the top priority for Montreal management. However, there were no significant changes, aside from the trade for Jonathan Drouin. Alex Radulov’s offense was hoped to be replaced by Drouin. The only other notable acquisition was stay-at-home defenseman Karl Alzner, hardly someone you’d count on for offensive production.
On top of the lack of any forward acquisitions, the team allowed offensive-defenseman Andrei Markov and his consistent 40-point seasons to walk to the KHL. He had spent his entire 16-year career in Montreal and spent the majority of his years quarterbacking the powerplay. Known for his puck moving and passes out of the defensive zone, the loss of Markov has been glaring given his lack of a replacement.
With no significant changes to the roster during the summer, it’s hard to imagine how Montreal management expected their team to perform to start the season. It appears the franchise is relying on Drouin, Max Pacioretty, and Alex Galchenyuk to carry the entire offensive burden. Meanwhile, the rest of the roster seems comprised of hard-working grinders.
When you consider the Maple Leafs had five 60-point players last season and Montreal only had one, it begs the question how much longer the Canadiens can keep their current management group. After all, last year at this time Toronto wasn’t even supposed to make the playoffs while Montreal had Stanley Cup aspirations. Today, it’s looking like the Maple Leafs are the team chasing the Stanley Cup while the Canadiens will be on the outside looking in of the playoffs.
The success of other teams within the division is adding more and more pressure on the franchise by the day. If the club continues down their current path they could be out of playoff contention by Halloween.
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For a team with Stanley Cup aspirations only a season ago, they seem to be on the verge of being left behind by the likes of the Maple Leafs, Lightning, and the remainder of the Eastern Conference.