The
Montreal Canadiens recently got back to a fully healthy roster and won three
games in a row to cross .500, but the start overall in the first 14 games could
have been so much better. Injuries to both Filip Chlapik and Brock McGinn shook
things up, but the big story has been the cursed Michael Dal Colle, whose 1
goal this season so far has the star in the midst of his first true scoring
slump in his 10 year career with Montreal.
Though the 7-6-1 start may be worrisome for a club used to contending for their
division, there’s reason to be hopeful things will trend upward.
Of Montreal’s six losses, five of them were one goal games, four containing
injuries to star players, three of those games without top man MDC. Even before
the injury to Colle, he has been snakebitten, with a shooting percentage in the
tank at 2.2%, far below his career average of 13.5%.Without the injury, and a normalized save
percentage, the star forward would typically be at 8 goals for the season, 7
more. With five of the team’s losses being single goal games, it could be said
that Montreal should be a few spots higher in the standings right now based on
overall play.
Or at least that’s how fans are coping, and not panicking.
The reality is though the team knows they have to be better. Being in the
bottom third of shots against has seen the team mix up the defensive pairs,
ending the experiment of Desharnais on the top pair, and even defenders
swapping sides of the ice. With Garret Sparks not yet finding his footing as a full time starter with all the weight on his shoulders, the team up front has to be firing on all cylinders all over the ice.
Montreal will run the gauntlet this week with six straight games starting
tonight in Chicago.
8/8/2025 - 297 words
