Perhaps the dream isn’t over, but it’s most certainly on life support.
It’s not even so much that the Canadiens lost a third straight game to the Carolina Hurricanes and that they were shut out 4-0. Nor is it that they’ve been pushed to within a game of elimination now that the Canes are up 3-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final.
No, the real reason for pessimism is the lack of emotion and drive shown by the Habs in Game 4 Wednesday night at the Bell Centre. By the 10-minute mark of the first period, it was clear that the hometown team was unlikely to win the game.
Oscar gets a hero’s welcome as he arrives to see the Canadiens game outside the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday. Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette
It was déjà vu all over again. Like a caller said on the post-game show on TSN 690, it was as if we were still watching Game 3. The Canadiens continually got caught in their own zone, they got few shots, and they were outmuscled on nearly every puck battle by the bigger and stronger Hurricanes.
“The lack of emotion, that’s what scares me a lot,” said Francis Barbusci, who had been in the Bell Centre watching the game. “I don’t know what to say about that. I’m just sad. I just wish they’d showed that they wanted to win. They didn’t show that. We’re not putting pressure on them, and they’re putting pressure on us. We can’t get out of our zone. We’re in the conference final. We should play like we want to win. They’re not playing like they want to win.”
I pointed out that you never know when they’ll be back in the conference final. I am as bullish as the next guy about this team, but you can’t predict what will happen next season.
“You never know,” said Barbusci. “When you get the chance, you have to play now. Sure, we have a great future, but when you have a chance to go far, you have to go all-in and push to get there, and I don’t feel that they’re pushing.”
This isn’t just on the players. It’s also on the coach. Montreal wasn’t particularly good in Games 2 and 3, losing both, so why didn’t head coach Martin St. Louis make any adjustments before Wednesday’s game?
“They didn’t change anything … and they should’ve done something because this game was exactly like the last game,” said Barbusci.
The perfect example of what needed to be changed but wasn’t is how they play in their own zone. It’s all about possession with St. Louis, and they make these little light passes, often moving backward. But it doesn’t work against the Hurricanes’ hard forecheck, and the Habs turn it over often. We’ve seen that for three straight games, and yet the coach continues with an approach that doesn’t work. Stubborn.
Canadiens fans head to the exits with more than six minutes remaining in the third period of the team’s Game 4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Montreal on Wednesday. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
All night, you had thousands of fans screaming for the players to shoot the puck, which I kind of loved. Fan power, man! Alex Newhook was asked about this after the game and he said: “It is what it is. The fans are passionate.” Yes, more passionate than the players on this particular night.
Jean-Alexandre Fortin said the Habs will be in the Stanley Cup final in the years to come, but that it won’t be happening this year because the Hurricanes are just too tough for the Canadiens.
“The Hurricanes have their sticks in the right place, they make good checks, and they’re able to stifle the best Habs forwards,” said Fortin. “Maybe we can win one more game to get another game at the Bell Centre.”
Fortin said they need more tough players like Josh Anderson, that Jake Evans is clearly not a second-line centre, and that they need a big, tough defenceman.
“Look, it’s a miracle we are here,” said Fortin. “They won a Game 7 against Tampa that they never should’ve won. For the youngest team in the league to get here, you just gotta say, ‘Wow, the dream is coming.’ “
Marc Beaulieu said he still has hope the Habs can win the series, but it’s clear he just believes you have to keep hope alive if you’re a real fan.
“But I think they’re running out of gas,” said Beaulieu. “They’ve played a lot of hockey.”
Canadiens fans react as they watch Game 4 against the Carolina Hurricanes outside the Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday. Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette
Luke Richardson said he’s still excited the Canadiens have made it this far, but admitted it was a terrible effort Wednesday. He noted that the first line has been disappointing throughout the playoffs. Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield just have not been huge factors, and Nick Suzuki “has been Selke-defensive good, but he hasn’t been like the 100-point guy, and Cole, he’s just second on every puck. He has that little bit of hesitancy. I get it. I played hockey. I was a small guy, but sometimes you just have to sacrifice yourself, especially like this, when the series was probably on the line tonight. You gotta lay it out there.”
Richardson was at the game and he loved the experience despite the final result. But he said the team’s problems on home ice are a real concern.
A 2-6 record at Bell Centre in the playoffs is “just not acceptable,” said Richardson.
I asked him if he thinks they can come back.
“I’ll be honest, I’m not feeling it, but that’s why we love sports,” said Richardson. “Never say never.”
People on Avenue des Canadiens were talking about the faint hope of the Canadiens making a dramatic comeback, but they know that it will take a miracle or 10 on the ice for that to happen. What is certain is that if they play like they played in the last three games, this magical run will come to an end Friday night in Raleigh.
bkelly@postmedia.com
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