’We’re frustrated right now,’ Julien says after another loss
Canadiens coach Claude Julien was at a loss for an answer when he was asked why the Canadiens are unable to hold on to a lead.
The question arose Thursday night after the Canadiens squandered a 2-0 lead and lost to the New York Rangers 5-2 at the Bell Centre.
“You know what? Honestly, I don’t know,” Julien said when asked about the lack of desperation among his players. “And the reason I say I don’t know is because our game plan is to go out there and play 60 minutes the same way. We ask the players to play the same way. We talk about the things we need to do even going into the third period. To keep going after these guys, keep putting pucks behind their Ds.
“Let’s throw pucks at the net,” Julien added. “We had lots of chances around their net-front area. It could have easily been 3-0, 4-0 if we bury our chances. We talk about you got to lift pucks up. Once you get a rebound or something, you got to lift pucks up. We have to make those things happen and they’re not and that’s why we’re frustrated right now. As players, as a coaching staff, you try and help them out and it’s not happening. So that’s where our challenges are.”
The record is damning. This was the seventh time this season the Canadiens have lost after holding a 2-0 lead. And the Canadiens have lost a league-high 10 games in which they led after two periods.
Julien was not happy when it was suggested that Canadiens were leaning too heavily on Carey Price who has played all but four games since Dec. 11.
“I’m not even going there,” Julien said. “He’s had a break. Guys, ask questions that make sense. To me he’s had a day off between every game and he doesn’t skate in the morning. He made some unbelievable saves tonight so we’re going to look at one goal that went through and say is he tired? How about the saves he made. Come on, guys. Really.”
It should be noted that one Price let though was the go-ahead goal by Adam Fox in the third period.
The reliance on Price demonstrates the failure of the Canadiens to find a backup they trust, but Price hasn’t been getting the job done. He has a 26-23-6 record this season and is 12-14-4 at home.
The Canadiens were dominating play and held a 2-0 lead when Phillip Di Giuseppe scored for the Rangers with 1:26 remaining in the second period.
Tomas Tatar, who led the Canadiens offence with a goal and an assist, said he didn’t think the Canadiens suffered a letdown after the goal.
“We played a good game for 40 minutes and we felt good being up 2-1 after two periods,” said Tatar, who has matched his career-high of 58 points. “But we made a mistake, they got a bounce and they tied it up and then they scored on a power play. We made mistakes in the D -zone and they capitalized. I don’t know why we let them come back, but we have to figure it out.”
The problem is that it’s probably too late to figure out anything for this season. It was the Canadiens’ seventh loss in their last 10 games (3-5-2) and they dropped further back in their pursuit of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the race for third place in the Atlantic Division. The Leafs had a come-from-behind win in Florida Thursday night to open a nine-point cushion on the Canadiens. Toronto also holds a game in hand.
The Canadiens are home to the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday (7 p.m., City, SNE, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio).