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Since they started losing, the Habs have the worst special units in the NHL
Mathis Therrien
Since they started losing, the Habs have the worst special units in the NHL
Credit: Getty Images

The Montreal Canadiens are going through a very tough streak right now, and this is happening at the worst moment, as Martin St-Louis’ team is in the heart of the playoff race in the East.

It’s really unfortunate that the team couldn’t solidify its playoff spot, but in the end, it’s not because of a lack of luck.

The Habs have shot themselves in the foot in many ways, as they are at the bottom of the NHL in several statistics since the start of the five-game losing streak, which began on March 19.

Besides the fact that the Habs are giving up too many goals, there’s another area where the Habs have been unrecognizable for five games.

I’m talking here about special teams.

In fact, since they started losing, the Habs have the worst special teams in the entire NHL.

When you combine the powerplay percentage (6.7%) and penalty kill percentage (60%), the Habs are last in the NHL with 67.7%.

(Credit: NHL.com)

The worst part is that the Habs are last by far in this category. The second-worst team when combining special team percentages is the Columbus Blue Jackets at 80% (0% on the powerplay and 80% on the penalty kill).

In short, this means that both the powerplay and penalty kill have been terrible for five games, and this is largely why the Habs have lost five consecutive games.

Powerplay

When looking at the Habs’ powerplay over the last five games, what’s most apparent is the team’s lack of creativity, especially the first unit.

We’re playing with a lot of laziness, and we’re almost desperately trying to get the puck to Patrik Laine, crossing our fingers that he’ll score with a perfect shot, as he’s done so often this season.

The problem is that these are often telegraphed plays, while the opponent always makes sure to keep one player on Laine.

We’re looking for the easy play too often, and everyone’s trying to pass the puck to someone else, hoping they’ll make the play or score the goal.

The result of all this is that the Habs have only scored one goal in 15 attempts over their last five games.

This is horrible, and it absolutely needs to change if the Habs want to hope to make the playoffs.

And even though Laine has scored the only goal in this streak, we can wonder if he’s hurting the powerplay (which has gone from 15th to 19th) given that the other four players have only one idea in mind, which is to pass the puck to him.

Penalty Kill

It’s not much better on the penalty kill, as the Habs have given up at least one goal in each of their last five games while shorthanded.

The Habs’ opponents have converted 6 of their 15 powerplay opportunities.

This is way too many, especially for a penalty kill that was going so well before.

Jake Evans and Joel Armia haven’t been able to do the job over the last five games, as they’ve been on the ice for three of the six goals.

They were almost unbeatable, and we couldn’t stop praising their work on the penalty kill, but now it’s the opposite.

Plus, they’re not scoring anymore, and they’re not contributing to the team at all.

Armia hasn’t scored since March 6, a span of nine games, and Evans hasn’t scored since March 1, a span of 12 games.

In short, the Habs’ special teams are doing very poorly, and things will need to turn around quickly if the team wants to continue hoping to make the playoffs.


In Overtime

– The Hurricanes and Maple Leafs could clinch a playoff spot today.

– To be continued.

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