Canadiens Lineup

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin – Max Domi – Joel Armia

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Paul Byron

Nick Cousins – Nate Thompson – Nick Suzuki

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry

Ben Chiarot – Cale Fleury

Carey Price – Keith Kinkaid

Mike Reilly, Christian Folin, Jordan Weal 

Game Report

The head coach was in a snarly mood following the game and so were Canadiens fans. Claude Julien was not happy with the team’s penalty-kill nor the defence. Julien said that he was aware of some bad habits and promised to address them at practice on Friday morning.

The Canadiens have now played 10 games, a typical milestone to evaluate the outlook for the season. With just ten points, Montreal finds itself looking up at two-thirds of the teams in the league. Blessed with a soft schedule, it should be concerning that the Habs have a record of just 2-3-0 at the Bell Centre.

The loss in this game can be laid directly at the feet of the Canadiens putrid penalty-kill. The Sharks power-play scored twice within a span of 5:49 and that was the game. The Habs have surrendered 11 goals while shorthanded with a 67.6 percent success rate, which ranks 30th in the NHL.

The Montreal bench was obviously furious with some questionable officiating. The team was rattled and completely lost their focus for the second period. While the Canadiens had trouble completing passes, the Sharks buried their chances.

Shea Weber was not thrilled with the hooking call made against him at the end of the first period. But the captain was firm in saying that if the referees call it, they must find a way to kill it.

One of the hard truths after 10 games is that Phillip Danault is not pulling his weight. The narrative about his being a Selke-caliber player has been a mostly fanciful creation of the Montreal media. But this season, Danault is clearly a significant liability on the defensive side of the game.

Danault was on the ice for three of the Sharks four goals tonight. He has been weak, at times lackadaisical, on the penalty-kill this season. Danault is worst on the team in goals against per 60 minutes among regular forwards.

The Canadiens bottom four on defence was shredded by a smart, veteran Ducks team, who were desperate for a win. And when Canadiens forwards tried to generate a comeback they were met by a stout defence of Brent Burns (27:04), Erik Karlsson (26:35), Marc-Edouard Vlasic (22:18) and Brenden Dillon (23:25).

The loss extended the Canadiens losing streak to the Sharks to nine games, tied for the second longest skid against a single opponent in team history.

The Habs will practice on Friday to prepare for Saturday’s contest when they host the  Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre.

Plus / Minus

▲  Shea Weber, Nick Cousins

▼  Phillip Danault, Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak, Cale Fleury, Nate Thompson, Paul Byron