Mike Matheson is right: the Habs are to blame for their own fatigue

Félix Forget
Mike Matheson is right: the Habs are to blame for their own fatigue
Credit: NHL.com

How can we explain the Canadiens' elimination by the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals? Everyone seems to have their own little theory about it these days.

Whether it was a lack of shots, the fact that the team is young, the fact that they were simply not as good as the Hurricanes, or the fact that Martin St-Louis didn't make any adjustments, these are all equally valid explanations.

But in the eyes of many, fatigue was a factor. The Habs had just played two grueling seven-game series… and they faced a team that had just completed two sweeps. And we quickly saw the difference.

And it's interesting to note that yesterday, Mike Matheson was asked about that fatigue. And instead of blaming the playoff format, he blamed… the Habs.

In his view, the team had opportunities to wrap up the previous series sooner but didn't take them. So they're responsible for their own fatigue.

And the defenseman, clearly, isn't wrong. We know that the Habs, against the Lightning and the Sabres, had great opportunities to take a significant lead in the series or eliminate their opponent in Game 6. Except that every time, they systematically lost those matchups.

At least they won the Game 7s they had to play. But the reality is, they could have avoided having to play those games in the first place.

There's a lot of talk about the lessons this young group needs to learn, and this is an important one: the team needs to develop a killer instinct and close out series more quickly when they have the chance to do so. That would have allowed them to face the Hurricanes with more rest and avoid looking like a team running out of steam.

We've been saying this a lot since yesterday, but it's part of the learning process that the vast majority of teams have to go through. Now we'll just have to see if the Habs learn from this.


In a nutshell

– A first-ever final for Frederik Andersen.

– Yeah!

– Switzerland is unstoppable at the World Championships.

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