The Reasons Habs Are Blowing Leads Explained

To start, he talked about how they need to make sure they have the right guys on the ice within the last 2 minutes of a game to make sure they can defend the zone better. One issue that both McGuire and Marinaro discussed, which was specific to Thursday’s game, was the fact that Martin St. Louis and his coaching staff chose to keep Joe Veleno on the ice with his linemates, Jake Evans and Josh Anderson, to close out the game. Veleno played more minutes than Brendan Gallagher, who was on that line for the majority of the season. It’s a well-known fact that Gallagher is better than Veleno and would likely give the Habs a better chance of shutting down the opposition in the late stages of the game. 

There were a few times in the game that Veleno tried to dump the puck out of the zone but failed to do so as a result of being weak on it. As Brian Wilde stated in his Call of the Wilde article on Thursday night, Veleno seems to have a good IQ to read the game defensively but he doesn’t have the hunger to execute on his reads oftentimes.

With that being said, it’s risky to have him out on the ice late in the game. A player like Gallagher or even Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen, who kill penalties, may be better options to defend the lead later in games. That is, of course, if Nick Suzuki isn’t available to be on the ice with Evans and Anderson after finishing a shift of his own.

As the youngest team in the league, the Habs will have parts of their game that need some work before officially being a contender. In a way, Thursday night’s game was seen as a measuring stick matchup to see where they stack up against a potential Stanley Cup-contending team like the Devils. The Canadiens were able to find the weakest of the Devils in the 3rd period by just getting shots on goal, but they also seemed overwhelmed by the speed of their opponents’ better players. For the rare time this season, the Habs faced a faster opponent than themselves, and that makes a difference in the long run. 

Another issue that the Habs are having in 3rd period on a nightly basis is taking bad penalties. It didn’t affect them on Thursday, but it played a huge part in why the Seattle Kraken came back from 3-0 down during their game on October 28th. Penalties late in games can sometimes give a team the momentum to rally back. In fact, the Flyers sort of allowed the Habs back into the game thanks to the power play on Tuesday night.

All in all, the Canadiens essentially need to learn who the right guys are to close out a game. However, they must also stay disciplined to not give their opponents any ammo. Like McGuire mentioned, they are still figuring themselves out, so both these things should come with more experience as the team continues growing as the season goes along.