Game #7: The Habs must avoid following in the Maple Leafs’ footsteps

Jonathan Di Gregorio
Game #7: The Habs must avoid following in the Maple Leafs’ footsteps
Credit: Kirk Irwin/NHLI via Getty Images

The Canadiens will play Game 7—the final game of the series—tomorrow night in Tampa Bay, marking the culmination of a hard-fought and extremely close series.

For Martin St. Louis, his team is ready to move on to the next stage.

However, win or lose, it will be a learning opportunity for many of our young players who will be experiencing a Game 7 in the NHL for the first time in their careers.

Nevertheless, if the Canadiens were to be eliminated tomorrow night, what lessons could we draw from this seven-game first-round loss?

If we want to look at the glass as half full, the Habs will have played two more games than last year by going to a Game 7 against the team many consider the most dangerous in the Eastern Conference.

We can see some progress there, even if the goal was to at least get past the first round.

On the other hand, if we want to see the glass as half empty, there are some reasons for concern, particularly regarding the performances of our star forwards so far.

Although he has five points so far, Nick Suzuki has no goals and a -5 plus/minus rating in this series.

Cole Caufield has just one goal and also a -5 rating, and Juraj Slafkovsky has no points since his hat trick in Game 1, in addition to posting, once again, a -5 rating.

Even Ivan Demidov, who undoubtedly played his best game of the playoffs yesterday, has just one assist and a -2 rating.

Right now, it's our role players who are making the difference, though we have to acknowledge that the Lightning are doing an excellent job of shutting down our best players, especially at five-on-five.

That team is really good at making their opponents look worse.

However, let's hope this isn't the start of a trend in the playoffs where our best players aren't performing like they did in the regular season.

In fact, as Alexandre Coupal, Martin Leclerc, and Alexandre Gascon point out on the show Tellement Hockey, this is reminiscent of the Maple Leafs from about a decade ago, who had three very promising young stars and were already being talked about as a dynasty.

Toronto lost in six games to Washington in 2017, then in seven games to Boston in 2018.

Even the arrival of John Tavares in the City of Kings didn't allow the Leafs and the Core Four to get past the first round until 2023, and they never made it past the second round.

Let's just say we're still a long way from that point with the Canadiens' young team, but our best players need to start putting up numbers in the playoffs.

Ultimately, if the past is any indication of the future, the Habs have a good chance of winning tomorrow's game, as the team has won six of its last seven decisive games since 2004.


In a nutshell

– Montreal scores first.

– The Roses double their lead.

– Overtime loss for La Victoire.

– It starts tonight.

– Game seven is on.

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