Carey Price is supposed to be the saviour, the thoroughbred as Bob Gainey likes to call him, but the record for this thoroughbred is good for glue.
Two and six on the season now, Price hasn't won in a month, even though he was the player of the month for October winning the Molson Cup. He is supremely frustrated and trying his best to not get down.
Let's be honest. Price isn't making the big saves to get points. But let's also be honest and say the team completely hung him out to dry. The back door plays for goals against Atlanta, no goalie saves. The deflection in tight on the shot on goal from behind the net could have gone differently if the stick was better placed. The same thing happened on the Bergeron deflection in Chicago to Price. The one clear bad goal is the point shot that Price waived at that went into the top corner.
Spreading around the blame
The real problem is not Price. I'll admit he's not saving the day, but the real problem is a lack of mobility on defence. Jacques Martin has devised a system to help the D as much as he can. The forwards come back low in the defending end to aid in breakouts. When the gap is too big the Habs defenders in a real bind trying to elude forecheckers and move the puck.
A Jacques Martin team wants to be tight. We all know his history. However, he doesn't have the mobility on defence or the size with his forwards to get this done. The Habs have allowed 18 goals in the last four games. Both goalies' save percentages are under .900 not because they're bad goalies but because the shots they're facing are of too high a quality.
I have to say, all of this is surprising me. I would have guessed the club would have had a hard time scoring goals this season, not stopping them.
Missing Markov
A night like this really showed the huge loss of Andrei Markov to the roster. Remember when you look at the Habs defense right now that O'Byrne, Gill and Markov are higher on the depth chart than those who are replacing them.
So all fingers are pointing at Price when they should point at everyone.
Calling out the front office
The organization didn't protect this kid enough. They wanted him to be Patrick Roy or even Steve Penney for a playoff or two when he wasn't ready yet. When he was struggling emotionally against Philly two years ago, they just kept throwing him out there, and as a result of being in the harsh spotlight that is Montreal they have a goalie much more fragile and full of hard lessons that he shouldn't have had to face. The hands don't go up in the air like Roy in frustration after getting booed for being in an unwinnable situation if he isn't at the end of his rope already. That's Bob Gainey's fault. He tied that knot.
Organizationally, they haven't protected this kid. As a result, he carries too much baggage, gets booed for a routine save and has life experiences he should have been spared.
Stiff test
We will see how strong this kid is emotionally right now. If he comes out of this stronger, then he deserves a world of credit. Because this isn't going to be easy. He can barely remember what it feels like to win.
The snowball is rolling down the hill picking up speed and weight, and getting much harder to stop.
It's going to be very interesting to see if he can save himself. Watching his face, full of the pain of another loss, I decided I'm pulling for him.
