Washington: the Canadiens lost because their players cheated

Maxime Truman
Washington: the Canadiens lost because their players cheated
Credit: X/Twitter

Forget the empty platitudes of your uncles, who constantly paraphrase Michel Bergeron, the late Guy Lafleur(whose ashes, by the way, were bizarrely scattered over the city of Thurso, but that's another subject) and Claude Quenneville: when you're leading 2-0 early in the third, you can't lose the game.

And that's exactly what happened to the Canadiens last night in Washington.

But, hey, many fans are applauding the bonus point in overtime.

Basically, I have a hard time applaudinga bonus point like the one the NHL awards to teams that lose in overtime or a shootout, but when you're up 2-0 and leave the arena with just one point, I'm simply incapable of applauding anything.

Yes, I'm willing to believe that the Capitals weren't playing the night before and that the Canadiens arrived at the hotel around 2:45 a.m. after a game at the Bell Centre and a delayed flight, but that doesn't excuse everything.

You can't be outshot 25-6 in the third and overtime and say to yourself: we did the job.

No excuses, as your own club under Bergevin would say.

In professional sports, it's important to tell the truth: yesterday, the Canadiens lost their game because too many players made poor defensive saves… or simply decided not to make defensive saves at all. Several players cheated.

Ethan Frank was able to score his first goal of the game because Zachary Bolduc stopped skating in the opponent's zone, instead of coming back to defend, after losing the puck.

Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson were caught defending three guys… with two. And when Bolduc arrived, he was late on the play, allowing Frank to go to Samuel Montembeault's net undisturbed.

Danault and Anderson were also two on Dylan Strome when he had the puck at the blue line, leaving Rasmus Sandin AND Ethan Frank to Bolduc. In short, the Capitals' first goal could easily have been avoided.

On the second goal, Alexandre Carrier could be seen defending with his back to the play, his neck turned toward the opposing goalie… and positioned between the player he was to score and the puck carrier, not between the player and the net protected by Montembeault. That's not the way to defend, Alex!

As for the decisive goal in overtime, we had two guys playing poorly defensively (without the puck): Nick Suzuki cheated on the face-off (lost by Phillip Danault), prioritizing offensive risk over defensive safety…

And Juraj Slafkovsky decided – for some reason – to let go of Connor McMichael and head for the boards as the puck was headed for his net. As a result, McMichael was able to pounce on a loose puck and seal the deal. Once again, a Habs player failed to place himself between the goal and the player he was supposed to score on, a basic concept taught in Peewee at an early age.

OK, maybe the guys were tired, physically and mentally, but focusing on being on the right side of the player you're watching doesn't take a lot of energy. Doctors perform open-heart surgery after short nights' sleep, and they don't fail.

Hockey is a game of mistakes, and your mistakes shouldn't be the result of a lack of effort. Otherwise, it quickly becomes a problem…


Extension

– When Jake Evans is fit to return to action, he'll likely replace Joe Veleno at center on the fourth line, but when Kirby Dach or Patrik Laine returns, it'll be Samuel Blais, Brendan Gallagher or Zachary Bolduc. With defensive lapses like last night, Bolduc may be closer to exiting the lineup than we thought just a few days ago.

– It was confirmed to me yesterday that Kaiden Guhle is expected to play at least one of the Habs' last two games on the road. A plan is currently in place to avoid overloading Guhle. In short, there's nothing to worry about. At least not yet!

It's clear that the Habs are VERY careful with their players, who are often injured. #Dach #Guhle #Laine

– I was also told yesterday that the Canadiens were one of the few teams to contact Marc-André Fleury's agent (Allan Walsh) last month. Unfortunately, Fleury is in too much pain and has too many minor injuries to seriously consider coming out of retirement. At least for now!

– We overused Phillip Danault and underused Ivan Demidov last night. #Done

– I don't usually like the ménage à trois, but yesterday it allowed Samuel Montembeault to be the only Habs player rested. Montembeault had traveled to Washington the day before (at a reasonable hour).

– Russian players must be brought back to international competitions. Or else, think about banning American players. Then the Iranians. And the Israeli Raelians!

Think about it: Russian athletes are being punished because their president decided to attack another president and his country. What about the American president in Venezuela?

If we can applaud Ivan Demidov at the Bell Centre because he has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, why can't we applaud him on the (too-small) Italian ice on which the Olympic Games will be held?

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