Habs hope to keep winning despite missing playoffs
The playoff position that looked like a lock in November vanished on Saturday night when the Montreal Canadiens were beaten 5-2 by the New York Rangers.
That officially put the Canadiens out of the post-season for only the second time in nine years.
The only positive will be a high draft pick, but centre Tomas Plekanec said Monday it was important to keep gunning for victories in the few games remaining in the regular season, starting Tuesday night against Detroit.
“I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to talk about what went wrong here but we still have six games to play and we have to focus on playing our best and winning as many games as possible,’’ Plekanec said.
“We’re still trying to win the games, play the right way, don’t make turnovers, put pucks on the net. We don’t have any Stanley Cup winners on our team, so we have to learn how to play the right way for the whole season.’
The Canadiens and their fans are still in shock from the collapse that followed their 19-4-3 start to the season.
A lower body injury to star goalie Carey Price on Nov. 25 played a big part in it, but it was not the only reason a team that finished second overall in the 30-team NHL last season failed to win more than 15 games since Dec. 1.
Defenceman Tom Gilbert, who is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury and who can be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, told Montreal La Presse the team showed a lack of maturity and looked for excuses rather than answers when times got tough.
Captain Max Pacioretty said he talked to Gilbert about the story.
“Sometimes things come out differently than we intend,’’ said Pacioretty. “But we know in this room we have to hold each other accountable.
“Everyone in the room has to look in the mirror and realize they have to be better, first and foremost on the ice and then dealing with some of the adversity we’ve dealt with.’’
The Canadiens were flying high early on. Price was 10-2-0 with a .934 save percentage and they were getting goals from all their lines. Even when Price was injured for an eight-game stretch in early November, they kept on winning with rookie Mike Condon in goal.
But without Price in December, they outplayed many opponents and still lost. Then more injuries came and they went into a downward spiral.
“It hasn’t been fun around here for a while,’’ said forward Lars Eller. “It’s never fun losing.’’
He said teams thrive when “everyone knows exactly what the guy next to him is doing.
“I think that’s what we had going into December. Some- where along the way, we lost that a bit, even before all the injuries started hitting us.
“It was weird because, the year before, we were outshot, out-chanced so many times and we found ways to win games 10 or 2-1. A lot of shootout wins. In December this year, we were out-possessing teams, outchancing teams, and we just couldn’t find ways to win.’’
The Canadiens have 11 injured players, including top defenceman P.K. Subban who practised Monday but will miss a ninth game with a sore neck.
Forward Dan Carr, who also skated, is close to returning.
When asked if Price will play before the end of the season, head coach Michel Therrien said: “He’s working hard. I hope so.’’
Condon, who is 18-23-6 in 50 games, is Montreal’s nominee for the Masterton Trophy, awarded to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey.