Canadiens Lineup

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman – Adam Brooks – Brendan Gallagher

Artturi Lehkonen – Cedric Paquette – Joel Armia

Alexander Romanov – Jeff Petry

Ben Chiarot – David Savard

Brett Kulak – Chris Wideman

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

Sami Niku, Mathieu Perreault

Jake Evans (upper-body) Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), Carey Price (player assistance program), Paul Byron (hip), Mattias Norlinder (lower-body), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Game Report

The Canadiens arrived second to most pucks on Tuesday night. And even when they challenged the visitors, they lost many more puck battles than they won.

The Sharks aren’t expected to be a playoff team this season but they outworked and outhustled the Canadiens in the first period outshooting their hosts by a decisive 12-to-3 margin. Adin Hill had the easiest shutout that a mediocre goaltender could imagine.

Montreal is playing a sloppy, disjointed brand of hockey. Whatever the coach is selling, the players aren’t buying. Communication is not a strength of Dom Ducharme and perhaps it’s showing.

The offence is anemic with shots coming from the perimeter resulting in just three goals scored in four games. Special teams are a mess. Goaltending has been average at best.

Prior to their miraculous playoff run, the Canadiens finished 18th in the regular season. And now they are missing the two players who carried them to the Stanley Cup Final. In addition to holes on the ice, the dressing room has a leadership vacuum.

But there is talent in the lineup. And guided by this coaching staff, the talent is underperforming. But in no way was enough done in the off-season to upgrade the roster.

Issues on all fronts

The official attendance at the Bell Centre was announced at 16,095. The number is tickets sold, not warm bodies in the building. That meant there were way more than 5,000 empty seats, many of which were visible in the lower bowl.

So fans are staying away. And why wouldn’t they? Their team sits 32nd in the NHL, the only team in the league without a point this season.

The Canadiens have started the season 0-4. The young players looked bewildered. Veterans are visibly frustrated.

The general manager is in limbo. And the owner is MIA.

Turn back the clock 26 years

There are parallels to the start of the 1995-96 season. The Canadiens started the season with four straight losses after scoring a total of just four goals. On October 17, 1995 Canadiens president Ronald Corey fired general manager Serge Savard, assistant general manager Andre Boudrias, head coach Jacques Demers and longtime scout Carol Vadnais.

Four days later Corey hired Rejean Houle as general manager and Mario Tremblay as head coach. And you know what happened after that.

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