Make it four wins in 19 games this season for the Montreal Canadiens.
It’s the quarter mark of the year and the Habs have four wins. One of the teams that made it to the Stanley Cup Finals last season has four wins.
The Canadiens were lethargic from the start and provided little pushback against the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing 6-0 at the Bell Centre on Thursday night.
Wilde Horses
The Canadiens were outshot 16-5 in the first period, and outscored 3-0. Truth is, they did nothing right except make one strong rush. It was led by Matthias Norlinder who carried the puck up ice beautifully. He carried it into the zone as well. He won that space.
Norlinder then continued on to the net to tie up a defenceman. All of that resulted in Christian Dvorak having the only good chance for Montreal in the entire period. He missed the net with his shot.
Norlinder was the only player over 50 percent in expected goals percentage. He was at an outstanding 70 per cent. The other 17 players on the club were not above 50 percent. Remarkable. It was the first game for a player in his NHL career and he was the best player in the first period. Great for Norlinder, but that shouldn’t happen.
In the second period, it was another rookie who was leading the way for Montreal. Cole Caufield had an outstanding shift. He was dangling through players and taking it to the net for a chance. Caufield then was able to get to the half-wall to retrieve the puck and keep the sequence alive with a superb pass to an open man, Norlinder. He took another shot.
The best two players for Montreal halfway through the game were Caufield and Norlinder. They both received a strong ovation from the fans after that terrific shift.
Later in the second period, Norlinder pulled off another terrific play inside his own blue line, dispossessing the attacker easily and then immediately feeding a forward 60 feet away for a solid chance.
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The best two players for the Canadiens were the two that were called up from Laval this week.
Wilde Goats
The Canadiens had to come out in the first to show their fans that they were hungry and ready to compete. So it was disappointing to not only see the club down by three, but also who was struggling.
It was Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry who were minus two in the period.
And it wasn’t a minus two where they weren’t involved. They were the culprits. On the fourth Penguins goal, it was Petry and Chiarot again who were victimized. They were both back and ready for a 3-on-2 attack and somehow it turned into a breakaway for two Penguins players. On the sixth goal, Chiarot was on again. Chiarot was minus four on the night and Petry was minus three.
It’s a mystery what is going on with Petry, who was outstanding last season. He has only two assists for a quarter of the season, and that’s with the time spent on the first power play unit for much of it. That’s with over 24 minutes of ice per game. The management and coaching staff is relying on Petry nearly half of a game every game to be a difference maker in a positive way.
And it’s impossible to understand why this is happening. He doesn’t seem to be the same player. If the club is to improve at all this season, more than any other player, Petry has to turn this around. He plays almost half the game. He plays the power play. He’s deeply in the minus and he has two points.
Wilde Cards
As this season progresses, the question that is going to get more and more popular will be about the Canadiens retooling for the future. Just how big will the rebuild be, anyway? A rebuild of some depth is coming because the Canadiens need to finish the season 44 and 19 to reach a playoff spot. That is already insurmountable.
The players who will definitely be either re-signed or traded are Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak and Chris Wideman. They are the only regulars in the lineup who are unrestricted free agents. Kulak and Wideman will not fetch much on the market. Kulak perhaps a fourth rounder and Wideman a fifth. They will not be worth more as there are now 16 teams who are out of the playoffs.
Expect about 12 of those teams to be sellers. That’s a lot of sellers with expansion. Chiarot would likely fetch a first round draft choice. He had a terrific playoff last season, and his skillset is wanted during playoff hockey.
If the rebuild is bigger, this might be a shocking trading deadline season. Remember, though, that how big the rebuild will be is up to the general manager. As it stands now, Marc Bergevin always believes his team is close to greatness, so Montreal wouldn’t be an aggressive seller.
Should the club become aggressive, the one name that comes to mind is Carey Price. Price is 34 years of age now, and there is no doubt that he would like to win a Stanley Cup. That means, again, he would have to waive his no-trade clause as he did for the expansion draft.
Price has five years left on his contract at $10.5 million per season, so the Canadiens would have to pick up a large chunk of that contract to absolve themselves of it. It is not likely to happen, but if a team is close to having a cup chance and they are thin in net, it is possible.
The possibility of Price moving on increases with the depths of how horrific this season gets. At a 46-point pace, the will to do a massive rebuild gains steam. If the club can get it going and be flirting with an 80-point season, the big rebuild loses steam.
This league can surprise you. It was suggested in the Call of the Wilde last season that Montreal not protect Shea Weber, nor Price, and that is exactly what happened. At the time, it was not all that well received.
It’s early, but the feeling these days in Montreal is something has got to give.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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