There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid.
That piece of doggerel from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow could describe the Canadiens’ performance over the first quarter of the season.
The Canadiens have been very good in forging one of the best records in the NHL — they lead the league in points, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are only four points back and had four games in hand going into Friday night’s home game against the New York Islanders — but they have also been very bad in the five games they have lost.
While an argument can be made that the Canadiens could have just as easily lost the majority of the games they won, they never had a chance to win any of the games they have lost. The Canadiens were shut out in three of their losses and have been outscored 25-3 in those five games.
Every team is going to have its share of bad nights. It could be a simple matter of catching an opponent on a good night or being matched up against a team that is simply better. It could also be a matter of a team being physically tired, emotionally drained, or both.
On paper, the Canadiens are better than they were last season and — on the ice — their 15-5-1 record, the best in the NHL, is an improvement on their 10-9-2 start of a year ago.
Here’s a look at the good and the bad to date:
Good: The record. The Canadiens found ways to win even when they were outplayed early in the season. That was the case with their 2-1 shootout win in Buffalo on Nov. 5. That touched off a six-game winning streak, during which the Canadiens looked like an elite team.
Bad: The one-sided losses and the shootouts could come back to bite the Canadiens if they find themselves in a tiebreaker situation at the end of the season. Regulation and overtime wins, and goal differential are factors in the tiebreaker formula.
Good: The defence. General manager Marc Bergevin’s philosophy is to build a strong defensive team from the goaltender out, and the Canadiens have a good start with the goalie tandem of Carey Price and Dustin Tokarski. The defensive corps is getting better as players become accustomed to playing with each other. P.K. Subban seemed to be trying too hard to justify his new contract, but he has settled down with Andrei Markov as his partner. Subban has played his best hockey over the past two weeks, ignoring the distractions of posing for the cover of Sports Illustrated and being followed around by a TV crew from 60 Minutes. Veteran Sergei Gonchar has shown he can still play, but his main value will be to steady the power play. The Canadiens added another veteran defenceman Thursday when Rene Bourque was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Bryan Allen. That deal means Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi will be spending a lot of time with the American Hockey League’s Hamilton Bulldogs.
Bad: That power play Gonchar is trying to steady is horrid. The Canadiens have scored seven goals on 59 opportunities this season and rank 27th in the league with a success rate of 11.9 per cent. They are 0-for-29 on the road.
Good: Max Pacioretty is on pace for a 35- to 40-goal season, but the best thing about the middle-of-the-pack offence is that the Canadiens have been getting production from three lines. Tomas Plekanec has been the team’s best forward and he benefits from having youngsters Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk on his wings. Lars Eller has found a comfort level with newcomer Jiri Sekac, who is adapting well to the NHL. Manny Malhotra has been a great pickup because he can be counted on to win key faceoffs and helps fill some of the leadership void after losing captain Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges.
Bad: Can anyone remember the last time the Canadiens scored a first-period goal? They have surrendered the first goal in 14 of their 21 games and have been outscored 18-6 in the first period of those games, You can talk all you want about resilience, but you won’t find a single player who will tell you he enjoys playing from behind.
