In the last stage of his season, the Canadian ran out of energy on Wednesday at Nationwide Arena.
Jack Roslovic scored twice, Patrik Laine had a goal and two assists and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated Montreal 5-1.
The Habs had some trouble in their defensive zone coverage early in the game and they were never able to grit their teeth in hopes of making a comeback.
“We lacked energy for quite a bit the whole game,” acknowledged interim head coach Martin St-Louis. In the third period, we had better moments in the offensive zone, but it’s difficult to chase after the game in this league. »
The St. Louis troupe has lost four of its last five games. She has only five wins in her last 18 outings (5-9-4).
“I can understand the guys being mentally tired,” said St-Louis. The season has been difficult. There was a change of coach. I ask a lot of them, I try to put new things into practice. That’s a lot to deal with mentally. »
Ryan Poehling scored the Canadian’s only goal (20-43-11). Samuel Montembeault made 26 saves.
In the Blue Jackets camp (35-33-6), Cole Sillinger and Emil Bemstrom also each had a goal and an assist. Jakub Voracek and Gustav Nyquist were credited with two assists each. Elvis Merzlikins stopped 20 shots.
Striker Tyler Pitlick and defender Chris Wideman had been inserted into the Canadiens’ lineup. They took over from Jesse Ylönen and Corey Schueneman.
The Canadiens will be in action again on Friday and Saturday, when they host the New York Islanders and the Washington Capitals in order at the Bell Centre.
By unanimous decision
The Blue Jackets opened the scoring after 8:36 of play, when Montembeault fumbled a shot from a tight angle by Roslovic.
The Canadian had only four shots on the clock at the time and he didn’t take a shot on goal for the rest of the period.
Montembeault kept the fort, signaling himself a few times. He was particularly spectacular early in the second period, stretching the mitt to catch a one-timer from Zach Werenski.
The Canadian goalkeeper was unlucky on Roslovic’s second goal, at 15:52 of the second period. Laine’s pass to Roslovic deflected off his teammate’s leg before landing in the goal.
Montembeault couldn’t help it either when Laine moved the ropes 90 seconds later, on the power play. Laine took advantage of a favorable jump from the boards to shoot in the opening before Montembeault had time to recover.
The Canadian finally entered the scoring with 1:51 to go in the second period. Poehling scored on the power play by deftly deflecting a shot from Nick Suzuki.
The Blue Jackets made sure not to let the Canadian believe too much in his chances of recovery. They made it 4-1 in their favor 6:24 into the third period when Sillinger deflected a shot from Bemstrom.
Bemstrom turned the iron in the wound by returning to the charge with 2:22 to go on the clock.
Locker Room Echoes
Defender Joel Edmundson stressed that learning must continue at the Canadian.
“In a loss like that, you have to find things to improve and learn the lessons. You have to turn the negative into a positive. But we have to work for 60 minutes. We also can’t give the opponent more shots every night. »
Edmundson said Martin St-Louis continues to have a beneficial presence on the team even though wins are dwindling.
“He ‘cries’ us before each game, but he’s not the one who goes on the ice. It’s up to the 20 players in uniform to deliver the goods. We did not do it. You can give credit to the other team, but the game should have been much closer. »
Ryan Poehling noted that the Canadian had to provide a better effort in his last eight games.
“I’m happy to have scored and it brought us back into the game. But we need to be more consistent. There are only eight games left in the season, it’s no exaggeration to want to push for this consistency and give us momentum in anticipation of the next season. »