The popular move after the loss to Pittsburgh would be to run on about referee Chris Lee and how bad he is. By the way, very bad. But the Habs have bigger issues to contend with than a terrible call late in the game to rob them of a point or two against the Penguins.
The Habs are allowing far too many shots and relying far too much on their goaltenders. Halak faced 45 shots in Ottawa and Price faced 41 against Pittsburgh. You can't ask your goalies to give you that much night after night. One of the reasons the shot totals are so high is that the Habs are killing penalties all the time.
And seeing as they are doing it successfully, the full two minute kill means the goalies are facing even more quality rubber. Good on the PK though with 27 straight kills. Kirk Muller has them working aggressively at the right times. Not just chasing around, but chasing with purpose and in synch with one another.
Jacques Martin likes to say most games are won with special teams and goaltending. The Habs are getting both and it's a good thing because the 5 on 5 play is not strong, not as strong as their record would indicate.
What the team needs clearly is an impact forward. Gomez, a $7.3 million centre, can't call Max Lapierre his regular line mate. Either Lapierre is misplaced or Gomez isn't worth even close to $7.3 million. This is a Sesame Street moment: one of these things is not like the other. One of these things just doesn't belong.
Get Gomez a line mate he can feed and who can finish. Get him this player by trading Halak. Having two quality goalies is not a luxury the Habs or just about any team bumping up against the cap can afford. Halak's stock is highly valued considering his outstanding play and Gainey needs to pull the trigger to improve the club. A good talent playing just 25 games is not helping the other 57 nights. Look around the league: no one has two quality goalies really.
The Habs are close to being a playoff team, but a couple pieces are still missing and one can be attained with a well thought out trade.
Imagine all of the regrets if they miss the playoffs by two points. Chris Lee should hope that doesn't happen. He didn't help the cause Thursday, then again the Habs didn't either.
