After being outscored 12-1 in their last two games, the Montreal Canadiens, minus Alex Newhook, plus Jared Davidson, were hosting the Boston Bruins at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. The Habs meant business tonight, and Jayden Struble took it upon himself to warm up the crowd by inviting Nikita Zadorov to dance at the opening faceoff. The building exploded with cheers, and the tone was set for a typical Montreal vs. Boston tilt.

Much attention was on goaltender Samuel Montembeault, and when he stopped the Bruins’ first shot, you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief in the arena. 11 penalties were awarded in the first frame alone, including another couple of fighting majors when Arber Xhekaj dropped the mitts against Tanner Jeannot, who won the battle

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A Momentum Killer

An anemic power play is one thing, but one that wastes a five-on-three opportunity is quite another, especially when it ends with the other team landing a bone-crushing hit on one of your top players in open ice.

In the first period, with 1:28 of double-man advantage, Martin St-Louis sent Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson on the ice, electing to keep Juraj Slafkovsky for his second wave, but nothing came of it. With so much open ice, the Canadiens insisted on playing in close to Jeremy Swayman’s net, making it easier for the Bruins’ trio to cut passes, which is precisely what they did.

If it wasn’t bad enough to do it once in a game, the Habs got another five-on-three in the second frame, and the result was the same. Even worse, that one lasted 1:50, and it took Montreal 1:36 to get a shot on goal. So many passes and so few shots make it quite hard to capitalize. Even worse, after that one, Boston immediately took another penalty and killed it as well.

Asked about the power play, Martin St-Louis said:

I think we’re holding our sticks too tightly. Our reads are not clear, and that happens when you want things to work so badly that you rush too much; we’re not calm. We’ll take a look at it.

The Habs have not scored on the power play since November 4, meaning they’ve failed to score on their last 17 opportunities. Earlier in the season, having Demidov was like having an unknown secret weapon. Still, the league has now taken notice, and even though the young Russian possesses good deceptive skills, if he’s trying the same thing over and over, it becomes predictable. There’s a reason why this is the best league in the world.

The Trials and Tribulations Of Montembeault

Unfortunately for the Canadiens’ netminder, the only thing that has been consistent this year is his inconsistency. He can make a breathtaking stop one minute and then let in an easy shot the very next one. Usually, a goaltender who makes a big save gets a confidence boost, but that doesn’t seem to be true for Montembeault this season.

While some will say that he was unlucky in the Bruins' first game since the shot was going off target and bounced off him to cross the line, the truth of the matter is that if he hadn’t been so positioned to one side, the puck wouldn’t have hit him there. That’s not being unlucky, that’s being out of position.

In the second frame, he made a fantastic save on a breakaway opportunity before being beaten by a shot from the blueline that didn’t even take a deflection. He’s had a lot of trouble with those long-range attempts since the last couple of months of the previous season, which is strange, as it wasn’t an issue before. Is he struggling to evaluate the distance of the shots?

He did manage to shut the door in the final frame, even though he wasn’t called upon too much; he still made some key saves that allowed the team to stay in the game.

Matheson Keeps Making Key Plays

During this tough stretch of three consecutive defeats, it’s worth mentioning that blueliner Mike Matheson has been making some key defensive plays. In this game, he blocked four shots and intercepted several passes. He’s also broken up plenty of odd-man rushes in the last few games, and even if he can’t catch up to a player, he’s getting very good at being a nuisance without crossing the line.

Still with this 3-2 defeat, the Canadiens are no longer first in the Atlantic division, they trail the Bruins by two points, but they have two games in hand. Montreal is now sixth in the conference but only has 22 points, just like the eight-place Ottawa Senators.

Needless to say, tomorrow’s practice will not be an optional skate, and the power play will be put under the microscope. The Canadiens will get on the ice in Brossard at 11:30 AM and take off for Columbus at 2:00 PM. Perhaps a game away from the Bell Centre, with less pressure, will help the team get out of its first three-game losing streak of the season. There are only two home games left in November, and for the first time in quite a while, the Habs haven’t got a winning record at home for the month; they are 2-3-1 so far.

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