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New York is in pursuit of their fourth Presidents’ Trophy, but that is often the kiss of death for gassed teams come playoff time.
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With two consecutive defeats on home ice against Tampa Bay and Toronto this week, and with the season winding down and no playoffs in their immediate future, it would have been easy to suggest the Canadiens have packed it in.
However, Sunday night at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers, Montreal played a spirited game, matching the Broadway Blueshirts stride for stride through two periods — and this despite Montreal playing its second game in 24 hours.
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Say what you will about this team and its lack of offensive flair beyond the top line, but it will never quit under head coach Martin St. Louis. That’s a commendable quality to possess moving forward. And, now, it’s up to general manager Kent Hughes to find solutions to the numerous problems.
Be careful what you wish for: The Rangers are in pursuit of their fourth Presidents’ Trophy — awarded to the team with the most regular-season points — in franchise history. But that has been the kiss of death recently for the majority of teams who are left with little gas in the tank come playoff time.
No team has won the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup since the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013. Last season, Boston was eliminated by Florida in the first round, while, in 2022, the Panthers lost in the second round. And the Bruins also fell in the second round in 2020.
It’s nice to be guaranteed home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs. Not so nice when your players are sitting at home when the chalice is won.
News you need (Part I): The Canadiens have a 1-11-0 record in the second half of back-to-back games — their only victory coming Dec. 22, 5-2, at Chicago against one of the league’s worst teams. For those wondering, that win gave Montreal a 15-13-5 record. Since then? Not so good.
Road to the Cup
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Milestones: Joel Armia was playing the 500th game of his career on Sunday night — something the team’s nominee for the Bill Masterton trophy might have wondered he’d reach earlier this season after being demoted twice to the AHL’s Laval Rocket. His teammate, Cole Caufield, was playing his 200th game. Caufield opened the scoring for Montreal late in the opening period.
News you need (Part II): The Rangers’ victory was their 53rd this season, matching the franchise record established in 2014-15. New York is now 28-10-0 on home ice and has won 13 of its last 16 at MSG. When the Rangers allow two or fewer goals, their record is 36-1-0. And when they score four or more, they’re 32-0-1. This win was their 27th come-from-behind triumph. Yeah, they’re pretty good.
The hype was for naught: Many anticipated a heavyweight slugfest between Michael Pezzetta and 6-foot-7, 241-pound Matt Rempe. While they physically came together in the first period, neither came close to dropping their gloves. The fact Pezzetta fought, and lost, Saturday to Toronto lunkhead Ryan Reaves might have entered into the equation.
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Strange, but true (Part I): Nick Suzuki has played the Rangers 12 times in his career, yet is still seeking his first goal against them. It wasn’t a good night for the Canadiens’ captain. He didn’t generate a shot on goal, while losing 13 of 18 faceoffs.
He deserved a better fate: Cayden Primeau came on in relief of Samuel Montembeault on Saturday against the Maple Leafs in the second period and stopped 18 shots and didn’t allow a goal. Primeau stopped 25 more — 16 alone in the first period — before being beaten by Mika Zibanejad on the power play at 12:31 of the second period. The shot deflected off Armia, or Primeau might have stopped that one as well. With 41 stops, Primeau’s save percentage was .911.
Bad penalty: Juraj Slafkovsky took an offensive-zone infraction, tripping the wonderfully named Kaapo Kakko. Ten seconds later, Zibanejad scored.
Faceoff of the night: Vincent Trocheck beat Jake Evans, beginning the sequence that led to the above goal.
News you need (Part III): New York head coach Peter Laviolette, who has led three different teams to the Cup final, won for the 805th time on Sunday. That’s second among active coaches, trailing only Florida’s Paul Maurice (865).
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If he had any luck: Snake-bitten Josh Anderson, stuck on eight goals this season — and none since March 2 — was set up in front in the final minute of the second period. Predictably, he whiffed on the shot.
News you need (Part IV): Chris Kreider’s power-play goal early in the third period was the 109th of his career, moving him into second place, ahead of Rod Gilbert, in franchise history. Camille Henry (116) leads.
When it rains it pours: Barely more than two minutes after Kreider scored, Artemi Panarin made it 3-1 for New York.
Pass of the night: Mike Matheson, from just inside the Canadiens’ blueline, to Alex Newhook, who scored on a breakaway at 12:13 of the final period, making it 3-2 and providing the Canadiens with some short-lived life.
Don’t take penalties: The Rangers went 2-for-3 on the power play.
News you need (Part V): This is only the second time in the storied Canadiens’ franchise history the team has missed the playoffs three successive seasons.
They said it: “I felt good,” Primeau told reporters in New York following the game. “It’s a tough building to come into, especially on a back-to-back after playing a good team (Saturday) night. I just tried to give the team the best opportunity to win. They’re a good team. Going into the third period (tied) 1-1 is good for us. At the end of the day we want to be competing against these teams and beating them.”
“Honestly, I felt we did a pretty good job throughout the game,” Justin Barron, who was recalled from Laval on Saturday on an emergency basis, told the media in New York. “Our first period I thought was really good. The result’s disappointing. I want to show (management) the improvements I made in Laval, prove to them I can be a regular in the NHL.”
hzurkowsky@postmedia.com
twitter.com/HerbZurkowsky1
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