The Canadiens are now on the brink of elimination after a 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
Montreal now trails the best-of-seven series 3-1 heading into a must-win Game 5 Friday in Raleigh.
Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada analyst Luke Gazdic spoke to CityNews about what’s going wrong, and if Montreal still has a path back into the series.
Aside from Game 1, the Hurricanes have completely suffocated the Canadiens. Last night was clearly evidence of that. How do you explain it?
Well, first of all, this Carolina team, this is a really good hockey team. Like, let’s get that out of the way first. There’s a reason they finished first in the Metropolitan and swept their first two playoff series. They are built to win from the top down. They have a group of relentless forwards that their coach Rod Brind’Amour uses in spades; four lines roll. They have six defencemen that can skate and they have a goaltender that is playing really, really well right now. And one of the staples of their game is good starts. They come flying out of the gates. Their whole thing is they want to create chaos and they want to create it early.
And I think on the flip side, the one thing Montreal has struggled with is starts out of the gates. And you know, I said on TV the other night and I don’t think it was hard on them, but it is a little surprising to me that just with everything going on around the city and the vibe and the rink that they have started the way they have. And you know, maybe it’s nerves, maybe it’s just a little bit of jitters. But if you’re going to come out on your heels versus this Carolina team, they’re going to take it to you.
And last night was a perfect example of that. They scored first in every single game this series. And last night it was three goals in the first period, outshooting them 12 to four (12-5), I believe was the final after that. So it just looked like Montreal could never gain its footing after that first period after Carolina really, really came out hot.
Everyone is urging the Canadiens to shoot more pucks on Frederik Andersen. Fans were chanting that last night. What does Montreal need to do to shoot more?
I think it’s easier said than done against a team like the Hurricanes who first and foremost, all over the ice plays a very unique style of man to man, where there are teams in the league, Vegas is one that’s about to be in the Stanley Cup final, that plays more of a zone that locks up the middle of the ice, whereas Carolina is like five little individual one on one battles and they take a ton of pride in that and always being above their checked guy, they’re checked forward. So it’s almost as if somebody is always on top of you all over the ice, even when you get into the offensive zone, and you want to have a shot, someone has always seemingly been there.
But the Montreal team that I think we know and love that was so creative offensively and doing these creative moves and plays in zone, it just seems to have been stifled by a team, like I said, like that skates… every single guy that Carolina has, and that they’ve gone and picked up, can skate like the wind. And they just seem like they’re defending with a lot more urgency and a lot more pride than I think we’ve seen them play with yet.
The Bell Centre is one of the loudest buildings in the NHL. That should be a huge advantage for the Canadiens. But they just lost two straight at home and are 2-6 there in these playoffs. What do you make of that?
Well, it’s a young team, first and foremost, and I don’t know if that’s what’s happening, but it certainly kind of looks like that from the outside. And, you know, I mentioned maybe some nerves, maybe some jitters, but just the execution early, I think in the first five minutes last night, we counted six turnovers in the defensive zone for Montreal. So I think it can be stifling to play against Carolina, I think with everything going on and the pre-game ceremony and the torchbearer and like, I love that stuff, by the way, Montreal is one of the best in hockey at the pre-game introductions and ceremonies and the Coldplay song and all that. And maybe just when it’s all said and done after that, the guys are a little bit on their heels. And I think it’s that’s not an easy place to play, even as the home team. So I see a young team that finally maybe looks like the pressure is getting to them a little bit, but I don’t know. I don’t know. It’s one of the things that I think I’ve been looking for in the series is for them to be using that energy to their advantage a little more.
We saw some bad penalties last night, especially from Josh Anderson. Is frustration getting the better of Montreal?
Oh, absolutely. Like Noah Dobson last night, and this isn’t to pick on him at all, but Noah Dobson broke his stick off a slash coming in the zone and he threw the broken stick and we caught that on TV. And I just remember watching it being like, you rarely see visual emotion like that in a hockey game where you can clearly, clearly tell guys are frustrated. And out of the four penalties they took last night through the first two periods, three of them were cross-checking penalties to the head. Even Danault loses a draw to Staal and stays on top of him. I just think there’s one thing to be said for wanting to push back a little bit and drag the other team into the fight, but you got to do it in a disciplined manner. And when you have a team like Carolina with a power play like they do, if you give them chance after chance after chance, they’re going to capitalize eventually. And I know Aho got the power play goal in the first period, but they’re too good to keep playing with fire over and over again.
We’ve showered Martin St. Louis with praise all post-season long. But is now the time for him to make a move? Maybe get Gallagher or Xhekaj in the lineup?
Yes. And you know what, we talked about this a bit on TV last night, but it’s hindsight, right? I don’t know what factor they would have played if you would have put them in the lineup for last game, but even in the pre-game show, we were kind of waiting to see if there were any adjustments. These things are such secrets, right? You never really know what the lineup is going to look like. And Ryan Strome, who was our guest analyst who plays for the Calgary Flames, he thought Gallagher was coming in and I thought Arber Xhekaj was coming in and we were both wrong. So I don’t know if we’re bad at our jobs or we just take bad predictions. But I just think first of all for Xhekaj, Lane Hutson has been getting run over this entire series. He leads the NHL playoffs in hits taken this playoffs. And these aren’t small hits, like he is getting crushed. And I don’t know if Arber’s in, if that deters that a little bit or if guys are intimidated by him a little bit. But even having a veteran like Gallagher in the lineup to bring the energy that he does, I think they need something. So whether it’s a lineup change, whether it’s bringing in a veteran like that, they need something. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Marty goes to something like that or one of those guys.
A 3-1 deficit is big, but not insurmountable. But the Canadiens would have to win three in a row, including two in Carolina. And the way this series has gone these last few games… is it all but over?
I mean, it’s never over ‘til it’s over. And I even feel like last night on TV, we were kind of doing a eulogy a little bit. And I don’t want to make it feel that way because there’s been a ton of instances. And let me say, I live here in Toronto, 2021, this city was taking a victory lap up 3-1, ready to celebrate. And Montreal came back from that. And I know they’re different teams at different times and different hockey and different styles and all that. But they just can’t look too far ahead. They can one at a time, one at a time, go down there Friday and win a hockey game. You know, I don’t think they have to look any further past that. Because if you go down and win there Friday, you’re coming back home to the Bell Centre, you’re coming back to your home city. And you know, you win five and then Game 7’s up in the air, right? I think you just take it one at a time. Obviously, didn’t look great last night. It’s not super promising. But all you can do is focus on the next one at hand.
You can watch Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final between the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes live on Sportsnet Friday at 8 p.m.
