Montreal 2 Edmonton 7 (Rexall Place)
Rocket:
A team bowling outing is a bonding experience in pre-season. As a mid-season substitute for practise, it is simply a gimmick. Dressing 8 defensemen and playing two of them as forwards is not serious way to address your team’s lack of scoring. Line combinations assembled as though picked out of a hat is a joke.
This is the NHL. If the coach is serious, should we see a forward line of D’Agostini, Gorges and Dandenault? How about a power-play unit that includes Laraque, Kostopoulos, and Brisebois?
After the game, Guy Carbonneau said that the next step would be for him to sit with Bob Gainey to see if they could make a deal. Someone should remind Carbo that he is NOT the assistant GM of this team. He should be focusing on the mess on the ice.
The Canadiens are in disarray. A player or two added to the roster via a trade will not turn this team around.
Two things are clear: 1. the head coach has run out of ideas. 2. the players have stopped playing for this coaching staff.
Weaknesses that were identified in November have not been addressed in the video room nor in practise. Defensive zone coverage has been a problem all season, and was exposed again tonight. The Oilers went to the net at will.
Special teams continue to be a problem. The Canadiens gave up 3 power-play goals to the Oilers. Their own power-play went 0 for 6 and surrendered a short-handed goal.
After the game the coach gave a familiar response when asked about a solution. Carbonneau said “I don’t know, really.”
Did Guy Carbonneau ever have answers for the problems? His remedies appear as nothing more than ‘shots in the dark.’ Players are afraid to play (his words). No one seems to know their role. It is the responsibility of the coach to instill confidence and communicate expectations. Carbo has not done either. His lack of personnel management skills has undermined the stability of the team.
As for positives, there obviously weren’t many. Tomas Plekanec was the best Hab forward. Mathieu Dandenault had a goal and a assist. The line of Koivu, Pacioretty and D’Agostini had some energetic shifts. Ryan O’Byrne led the team with 4 hits, and logged the most even strength minutes of ice-time of any Canadiens player.
That makes 7 straight road losses. As Saku Koivu said after the game “We’re being humiliated right now, and it’s not a fun feeling.”
Pre-game:
Starting line-up:
Plekanec, Kovalev, Dandenault, Komisarek, Markov
Carey Price will start in goal. Dwayne Roloson for the Oilers.
Carbonneau will dress 8 defenseman with two playing forward. Dandenault will play his first game since breaking his arm. Gorges will play on the 4th line with Lapierre and Laraque.
Begin and Sergei Kostitsyn scratched.
Latendresse, Tanguay, Lang out with injuries.
Rocket’s 3 stars:
1. Dustin Penner
2. Tom Gilbert
3. Ales Hemsky
(photo credit: AP)