The Rise and Fall of the Montreal Canadiens
The Rise and Fall of the Montreal Canadiens
One of the NHL's top franchises, the Montreal Canadiens are once again fading away in February with eight defeats in their last 10 contests as injuries are taking their toll. The Habs aren't alone in the freefall category as the New York Rangers, who cannot blame injuries on their slide, and Vancouver Canucks are also in danger of seeing their seasons come up short. Will any of the three get it together before it is too late?
February may be the shortest month of the year, but it can’t end soon enough for some teams. This trio of freefalling NHL clubs is in serious danger of honking the 2008-09 season:
Montreal Canadiens
Habs fans have been here before. Two years ago, they chewed their nails while Montreal went through a 4-11-1 stretch into mid-February. That was enough to knock Les Canadiens out of the playoffs. Fast-forward to 2009, and the Habs are at it again, losing eight of their last 10 to fall to fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
This slide started with Alex Tanguay’s shoulder injury; he was joined on the shelf by Robert Lang (torn Achilles), Guillaume Latendresse (shoulder) and Patrice Brisebois (lower body). That’s a lot of talent to lose, especially up front. Brisebois is day-to-day, while Tanguay is reportedly about a week away from returning.
New York Rangers
I’ve been harping for some time about how overvalued the Rangers are against the betting odds, so I’m trying to not make it a habit, just in case they get their act together. Meanwhile, they’ve lost five games in a row, four of them in regulation, to drop to sixth in the East. New York has a goal differential of minus-14; Buffalo, one point behind in seventh, has outscored opponents by 13 goals.
The Blueshirts can’t blame injuries for this one. Aside from Dmitri Kalinin, who’s day-to-day with a back problem, New York is healthy. It’s all about the scoring – or lack thereof. The Rangers are tied with Ottawa for dead last in the league at 2.35 goals per game. This is not a winning formula.
Vancouver Canucks
Roberto Luongo is back, and all is well. Or so Canucks fans thought when their “captain” returned to action after missing nearly two months with a groin injury. But perhaps he came back too soon. Vancouver lost his first five games in net (two in regulation) before starting February with three wins in a row – during which Luongo allowed a total of 10 goals.
The Canucks are clinging to seventh place in the West, one point up on ninth-place Columbus and just eight points out of the conference basement. Six of their next seven games are on the road. But there’s room for hope: Ottawa, Phoenix and Toronto (all losing teams) are all on the schedule, plus a pair of games against the slumping Habs. And the Canucks are in pretty good health, aside from Kyle Wellwood, who has the flu. Give that man some chicken soup.
Ottawa at Buffalo (-165, 5½)
Wednesday, Feb 11, 7:30 p.m. (ET) TSN
There are two important differences between the 18-25-8 Senators (24-27 ATS, minus-9.52 units) and the 29-20-5 Rangers. One is the lack of puck-moving defensemen like Wade Redden, who went from Ottawa to New York in the offseason. But the bigger issue is in goal. The Rangers have Henrik Lundqvist at a passable .913 save percentage, while Ottawa’s crease has been devastated by the meltdowns of Ray Emery (now playing in Moscow for the KHL) and Martin Gerber (now playing with the Senators AHL farm team in Binghamton).
Time for Plan B. Rookie Brian Elliot (.912 SV%) has taken over the starting job from journeyman Alex Auld (.907 SV%), and the Sens are 5-4-2 with Elliot between the pipes – including Saturday’s 3-2 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Elliot made 28 saves on 30 shots to give new head coach Cory Clouston his first NHL win.
The Sabres (28-20-6 SU, 25-29 ATS, minus-3.09 units) have survived a litany of injuries, particularly on the blueline, but things got a lot worse at the other end of the ice when Thomas Vanek (32 goals in 54 games) took a puck to the face against the Senators. Vanek suffered a broken jaw and will be out 3-4 weeks. He joins forwards Paul Gaustad (shoulder) and Maxim Afinogenov (groin) in the press box, but Buffalo remains a -165 favorite in Wednesday’s rematch with a total of 5½ goals.
One of the NHL's top franchises, the Montreal Canadiens are once again fading away in February with eight defeats in their last 10 contests as injuries are taking their toll. The Habs aren't alone in the freefall category as the New York Rangers, who cannot blame injuries on their slide, and Vancouver Canucks are also in danger of seeing their seasons come up short. Will any of the three get it together before it is too late?
February may be the shortest month of the year, but it can’t end soon enough for some teams. This trio of freefalling NHL clubs is in serious danger of honking the 2008-09 season:
Montreal Canadiens
Habs fans have been here before. Two years ago, they chewed their nails while Montreal went through a 4-11-1 stretch into mid-February. That was enough to knock Les Canadiens out of the playoffs. Fast-forward to 2009, and the Habs are at it again, losing eight of their last 10 to fall to fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
This slide started with Alex Tanguay’s shoulder injury; he was joined on the shelf by Robert Lang (torn Achilles), Guillaume Latendresse (shoulder) and Patrice Brisebois (lower body). That’s a lot of talent to lose, especially up front. Brisebois is day-to-day, while Tanguay is reportedly about a week away from returning.
New York Rangers
I’ve been harping for some time about how overvalued the Rangers are against the betting odds, so I’m trying to not make it a habit, just in case they get their act together. Meanwhile, they’ve lost five games in a row, four of them in regulation, to drop to sixth in the East. New York has a goal differential of minus-14; Buffalo, one point behind in seventh, has outscored opponents by 13 goals.
The Blueshirts can’t blame injuries for this one. Aside from Dmitri Kalinin, who’s day-to-day with a back problem, New York is healthy. It’s all about the scoring – or lack thereof. The Rangers are tied with Ottawa for dead last in the league at 2.35 goals per game. This is not a winning formula.
Vancouver Canucks
Roberto Luongo is back, and all is well. Or so Canucks fans thought when their “captain” returned to action after missing nearly two months with a groin injury. But perhaps he came back too soon. Vancouver lost his first five games in net (two in regulation) before starting February with three wins in a row – during which Luongo allowed a total of 10 goals.
The Canucks are clinging to seventh place in the West, one point up on ninth-place Columbus and just eight points out of the conference basement. Six of their next seven games are on the road. But there’s room for hope: Ottawa, Phoenix and Toronto (all losing teams) are all on the schedule, plus a pair of games against the slumping Habs. And the Canucks are in pretty good health, aside from Kyle Wellwood, who has the flu. Give that man some chicken soup.
Ottawa at Buffalo (-165, 5½)
Wednesday, Feb 11, 7:30 p.m. (ET) TSN
There are two important differences between the 18-25-8 Senators (24-27 ATS, minus-9.52 units) and the 29-20-5 Rangers. One is the lack of puck-moving defensemen like Wade Redden, who went from Ottawa to New York in the offseason. But the bigger issue is in goal. The Rangers have Henrik Lundqvist at a passable .913 save percentage, while Ottawa’s crease has been devastated by the meltdowns of Ray Emery (now playing in Moscow for the KHL) and Martin Gerber (now playing with the Senators AHL farm team in Binghamton).
Time for Plan B. Rookie Brian Elliot (.912 SV%) has taken over the starting job from journeyman Alex Auld (.907 SV%), and the Sens are 5-4-2 with Elliot between the pipes – including Saturday’s 3-2 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Elliot made 28 saves on 30 shots to give new head coach Cory Clouston his first NHL win.
The Sabres (28-20-6 SU, 25-29 ATS, minus-3.09 units) have survived a litany of injuries, particularly on the blueline, but things got a lot worse at the other end of the ice when Thomas Vanek (32 goals in 54 games) took a puck to the face against the Senators. Vanek suffered a broken jaw and will be out 3-4 weeks. He joins forwards Paul Gaustad (shoulder) and Maxim Afinogenov (groin) in the press box, but Buffalo remains a -165 favorite in Wednesday’s rematch with a total of 5½ goals.
