MONTREAL - It's right across from Carey Price's stall. In a lavish dressing room filled with displays to draw inspiration from (the faces of Montreal's champions, the infamous torch quote and the big CH with its dual meaning; championship hockey and club de hockey Canadien), it's a heinous reminder of how far removed the current edition of this team is from its history.
It's a whiteboard that--through 28 games of their 82-game schedule--has rarely shown the Canadiens to be among the top eight teams in their conference.
The impact of this visual is being felt on more than just a subconscious level.
"It's eating me alive to have to look at that every day," said Price after another shootout loss--his fourth in five attempts at locking down that elusive extra point.
If shootout losses are deflating, this season's been like one big whistling balloon.
Add the points lost in the shootout to the two left on the table in overtime and to the 22 lost in regulation, you get 28. Surely there's at least one optimist in the Canadiens room to point out that they've accumulated as many points on the season, though you wouldn't find one to spin things in that direction last night.
There's no consolation for losing in a hometown stinker against the Columbus Blue Jackets to make it a six-game stint in which they've only managed a single win.
After starting out with only one win in their first eight games, the Habs have only managed three wins in their last ten.
Their last consecutive victory celebrations were held on November 10th and 12th, in Phoenix and Nashville, respectively.
They are the only consecutive victories the team has managed outside of the four they reeled off between October 26th and November 4th.
Every glance at that whiteboard should inspire urgency, but it's hard to argue that it's not inducing a certain level of uncertainty within the confines of that dressing room.
A succinct analysis of their performance Tuesday night comprises of noting the separation between defencemen and forwards on the Canadiens breakout, the inability to generate shots--let alone threatening ones--and the individuality that stole from the team-game they needed to incorporate to win.
Performances like this 3-2 shootout loss, a game in which the Canadiens deserved a worse fate, accentuate the disjointedness of their play.
Of the 17 losses this team has had, this wasn't the only performance you'd categorize in the same way. Games against the Ducks, Islanders, Penguins and Flames all come to mind.
Price said that he hates cliches, but he and his teammates must depend on adopting the mentality he alluded to last night:
"It's a game-by-game process."
Sure beats thinking about the contents of that whiteboard.
Finding Positives
-Alexei Emelin has made an incredible adjustment to NHL hockey. He had nine of the Canadiens 21 hits on the night. He finished the game with an assist and a +1 rating.
-Brian Gionta did what good captains do. He shook off taking a skate in the mouth that forced him to leave for stitches in the second period, and returned to score the game-tying goal with 1:21 remaining in the third period. He was lucky to not lose any teeth on the scary incident that sent him rushing to the Canadiens room, though he said that one tooth will have to be re-adjusted over the coming days.
-Louis Leblanc played 4:48 but managed to create scoring chances nearly every time he hit the ice by getting a shot on goal, recording a hit and forcing a turnover as well. He made the best of his situation.
Of Note
-Yannick Weber fell asleep on RJ Umberger's go-ahead goal, and didn't play a shift for the rest of the hockey game.
It's been tough going for the Swiss defenceman who went from leading the Canadiens in +/- earlier in the season to second-to-last in the category at -5.
Weber's ice-time was cut to 3:33 as a forward, on Saturday against Los Angeles. Last night, he played 8:31.
(Side note: Hal Gill is a team-worst -8, though to be fair, he's been paired with each of the Canadiens' youngest blue liners at the times in which they were struggling most; as is the case right now, playing alongside Weber.)
-P.K. Subban may have made a lot of mistakes in the game, but who can blame him over 32 minutes of ice-time? When all was said and done, he finished the game +1.
No Looking Back
The Canadiens have the veterans to instill the kind of leadership this team needs at the moment. Not to say they couldn't use help, if there's any of it to be had on the trade market.
The team's core believes in their ability to make that whiteboard display something positive to look at on a daily basis. But to use one of those cliches Price detests, actions speak louder than words.
We'll see if Gorges, Gill, Gionta, Cammalleri, Cole and Price can get everyone back on the same page.
As it stands, the team is remarkably only one point out of a playoff spot. Things could be worse, and they will be if the team can't shift its focus from things they can't control.
