We are treated to a rather strange start to the season for the Canadians which can be explained in several ways.
We may try to find a thousand and one reasons to explain the team’s failures, but it mainly comes down to the poor performance of the team’s second trio which has not yet found its identity.
In solution mode
Several players have been sent to the Canadiens’ second line since the start of the season, but Martin St-Louis has not found the winning combination, as many forwards are underperforming. Like it or not, our eyes must be on Kirby Dach, who is looking for a way to produce offensively. He has only scored two goals and he is scoring on only 4% of the shots he has taken since the start of the season. Yet when looking at the advanced stats, he should already have eight due to the many quality scoring chances he’s had. This means that Kirby Dach is, in a way, unlucky, and it is obvious that the more chances you miss to score, the more your morale is low.
Still, the day something clicks, we can expect other results.
Same thing for Slaf
We could put Juraj Slafkovsky in the same boat as Kirby Dach currently. With 30 dangerous scoring opportunities (all situations), Juraj Slafkovsky dominates in this regard among the Canadiens, even if he missed three games due to injury. Strangely, he also only has two goals on his record, despite quality ice time. Here again, the day the 20-year-old striker emerges from his torpor, the Canadians will be much more dangerous to face than currently.
And yet
We often talk about the youth of the team to explain the lack of success. You have to understand that it is impossible to inject experience into a player. Patience is required.
The fact remains that Martin St-Louis’ squad has only scored 81 goals this season, which places the Canadiens 27th in the NHL.
This proves that the offensive drought of certain players has a major impact on the team’s overall results.
Enough to make the series?
Even if the Canadiens met expectations offensively, would it be enough to allow this team to be part of the playoff teams currently? The answer is no. If the team met offensive expectations, the Canadiens would likely have a differential of -19 instead of -31, as is the case currently. On the other hand, the Canadians would clearly be in the famous mixinstead of the last position in the Eastern Association. It must be said that the Bruins currently have a differential of -19 and are third in the Atlantic Division. But this exception is far from the norm and, if they don’t improve this statistic quickly, the chances of them making the playoffs will be less.
