The game against the Panthers on Thursday was marred by several questionable calls from the officials.
The Canadiens’ players are growing tired of the inconsistent officiating that appears to be rife throughout the NHL this season.
While they are careful not to be too critical for fear of incurring a fine, Brendan Gallagher addressed the issue following Thursday’s 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.
“It’s frustrating, obviously,” Gallagher said after the game, which marked the team’s return to the Bell Centre after a five-game road trip. “I’m really at a loss for words.” You have the potential to get into trouble. They (officials) hear it and react differently, but (I’m) clearly frustrated.”
Gallagher, who needs to be around the net to be successful, was called for interference on Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky early in the third period. On the ensuing power play, Florida scored its fourth goal.
However, that was only one of several contentious calls, none more so than the first-period tripping minor assessed against defenceman Gustav Forsling on Josh Anderson, which could easily have resulted in a penalty shot. We’ll never know how that scenario would have played out, given that Anderson is still without a goal after 23 games, has squandered numerous chances, and struggles finishing on breakaways.
Aside from officiating, the Canadiens have a number of issues to address before Saturday night’s (7 p.m., CBC, Citytv, TVA Sports, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM) home game against the Detroit Red Wings. Since returning from the Global Series in Sweden, the Wings (12-7-3) have won four of their last five games and are making a strong push for their first playoff berth since 2016.
The Wings signed veteran forward Patrick Kane, 35, to a one-year, $2.75 million contract on Tuesday. Kane, who won three Stanley Cups in 15 seasons in Chicago, is recovering from hip surgery and isn’t expected to play until next week.
While the Canadiens (10-11-2) dropped below.500 with their most recent loss, they are currently playing seven of their next eight games at home. That is good news. What’s wrong? The Bell Centre’s record in Montreal is 5-7-0.
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The Canadiens outplayed Florida, which reached the Stanley Cup final last season before losing to Vegas. However, Montreal — particularly goaltender Cayden Primeau — fell apart in the third period. The visitors scored eight seconds into the period, then outshot Primeau three times in the second. All five of his goals came from his glove side.
Head coach Martin St. Louis does not appear content with carrying three goalies, while Samuel Montembeault — who signed a three-year contract extension Friday worth an average of $3.15 million per year — and Jake Allen are making the best of the situation.
“I patted (Primeau) on the back,” St. Louis told reporters on Thursday. “I’m sure he’ll have conversations with (goalie coach) Éric Raymond.” Otherwise, St. Louis was hesitant to address the goalie situation. “I really don’t know,” he admitted. “We’re taking it week by week.”
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The Canadiens failed to score on six power play chances against Florida and have now gone seven games without a goal when they have a man advantage. Montreal is currently 0 for 23 on the power play.
“I wouldn’t say we’re not clicking,” captain Nick Suzuki told reporters on Thursday. “There were numerous chances for us to score. It simply did not work. We had a solid strategy. I thought we did a good job with it. However, we must find a way to score.”
The only Montreal player to beat Bobrovsky was defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic, who has four goals in his last seven games. Kovacevic scored three goals in 77 games last season. Defensemen have scored 18 (28%) of the Canadiens’ 64 goals this season.
Anderson isn’t the only forward suffering from a lack of opportunities.
Suzuki and Gallagher have both gone nine games without scoring. Juraj Slafkovsky, the former first-round pick, has one goal in 12 games. Christian Dvorak has one goal in 13 games since making his season debut, while Sean Monahan has gone 13 games without scoring. And, while Jake Evans isn’t known for his offensive prowess, he scored the Canadiens’ first goal of the season on Oct. 11 against Toronto, and hasn’t scored since.
When the forwards aren’t scoring, the goaltending must be nearly flawless.
“The way we ended the game in Columbus and the way we started the game here, we’re building some good hockey,” he said. “I believe if we keep doing this, we’ll win more games than we have loss
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