The enigma that is the Montreal Canadiens was told with another chapter on Thursday night at the Bell Centre. Montreal had outstanding wins against powerhouses like the Dallas Stars, New York Rangers and Winnipeg Jets. However, they have suffered losses to some of the weakest teams as well.
It should have been two easy points for Montreal, hosting cellar-dwelling San Jose, but the Sharks posted a 3-2 win.
Wilde Horses
The San Jose Sharks might just be the worst NHL team this century. They had lost 12 straight contests before facing the Canadiens. It should have been a Montreal win, and an easy one at that. The Sharks have allowed more goals than any other club in the league by a wide margin.
It says a lot about the Canadiens’ difficulty finding goals that they could only get two against the Sharks. It’s one thing to find it a struggle against Vegas, but it’s quite another to be on the back foot against San Jose. To allow 17 shots on goal in one period to the Sharks is another matter entirely.
There were some moments of excitement, but not enough. Nick Suzuki had a breakaway in the third period, but his strong move was stopped. Mike Matheson had a chance to find Kaiden Guhle for a breakaway but couldn’t centre a pass on an odd man rush.
Matheson did set up Brendan Gallagher for the Canadiens first goal. Matheson was also in on the second goal when his point shot was deflected by Josh Anderson. The final five minutes were a barrage of Montreal pressure, but where was any of that intensity for the first 55 minutes? Against such a poor club, two goals and six strong chances is not a good night’s work.
When the Canadiens play the New York Rangers and win, it feels like the rebuild doesn’t have far to go. Against the Sharks, it feels like they are in the same category as the league’s worst team. That stings for Habs fans looking for Wilde Horses and finding none.
Wilde Goats
It was 22 games that Jayden Struble went without a big error. He was due. It’s not often a player enters the league and plays nearly flawless hockey. However, it was a huge mistake from Struble to allow the Sharks on the board. Struble threw the puck blindly to the front of the net.
Luke Kunin had an easy one against an unsuspecting Samuel Montembeault. A close inspection of the replay seemed to show that Struble was attempting to find his defensive partner behind the net, but he simply directed the pass poorly. One hopes it was more a physical mistake than a mental one.
Josh Anderson’s season is the perfect example of a glass half full or half empty based on perspective. Anderson has had three clear cut breakaways in the last two games. That’s outstanding. He has not scored on any of the the three breakaways. That’s disappointing.
It’s difficult to sneak around the ice and find yourself all alone with only the goalie left to beat. Credit to Anderson for being so on the ball, but it is phenomenal how many breakaways that he has not converted this season.
It could be that Anderson will be traded considering his age, and where the Canadiens are in their rebuild. If he is traded, Anderson could be an absolute steal. He likely won’t fetch a high return considering his goal total, but if he can ever get some confidence back, the goals could come in droves; the chances already are.
Wilde Cards
It has been a huge week for Owen Beck. The Canadiens’ second-round pick in 2022 was traded from the Peterborough Petes to a contending club on Tuesday.
It couldn’t be a better scenario for Beck to head to the Saginaw Spirit. It guarantees that Beck will be playing a lot of hockey this spring. Saginaw is the host of the Memorial Cup, so they get an automatic bye into the final four event.
The Spirit have loaded up in hopes of winning the junior championship. They have the third best winning percentage in the Ontario Hockey League, so they also could have a long run in the league playoffs.
Beck played his first game for the Spirit on Wednesday night and it could not have gone better. The Spirit ripped apart the Windsor Spitfires, winning 11-3. Beck had two goals and four assists.
Beck isn’t expected to be an offensive threat at the NHL level, but it sure doesn’t hurt to be pounding points in junior. Beck was 57 per cent in the face-off circle as well. He is one of the best in the dot in hockey at the junior level. Translating his all-around game, including intelligence on the defensive side of the puck, is the goal of Beck’s and the Canadiens.
There’s a spot for Beck as a smart shutdown centre in the NHL. It should be quite an enjoyable ride watching him in Saginaw the rest of the way this season.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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