When the NHL hit pause, the CanadiensMTL were all but done. Now, however, they find themselves in the playoffs and there's reason to believe that, if certain things go right, Montreal could surprise a lot of people. (By EricEngels)
and their fans to look back on the first 71 games of a season that appeared all but guaranteed to end in a third consecutive playoff miss, it’s an essential exercise to run through before we begin to look forward.
When the NHL slammed the pause button in the second week of March due to risks associated to the novel coronavirus, the Canadiens were all but finished.
But the fact they were 13th in both 5-on-5 goals and 5-on-5 goal differential speaks to their inefficiency in capitalizing on chances and highlights some of the issues they had defending their own end. It’s also indicative of the goaltending being largely inconsistent throughout and not up to par for portions of the season.
Speaking of not being up to par: Montreal’s power play, which had shown early-season signs of life after a pathetic offering in 2018-19, had produced less than any other team in the league from Feb. 1 to Mar. 11. And, over the same period of time, the Canadiens’ penalty kill had managed to kill off just 79.3 per cent of its penalties, which was 20th-best in the 31-team circuit.
Their special teams were an accurate reflection of where they were, from a mental standpoint, when the season was paused: With 11 games remaining and a 10-point deficit in the standings to overcome, the Canadiens were dejected, downtrodden and dreading having to wait any longer to be put out of their misery.
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