Call of the Wilde: Montreal Canadiens collapses with Pittsburgh Penguins shutout 6-0 – Montreal | The Canadian News

Make four wins in 19 games this season for the Montreal Canadiens.

It’s the fourth-year mark and the Habs have four wins. One of the teams that reached the Stanley Cup finals last season has four wins.

The Canadiens were lethargic early on and gave a slight setback against the Pittsburgh Penguins, losing 6-0 at the Bell Center on Thursday night.

Wilde Horses

The Canadiens were outshot 16-5 in the first period and outscored 3-0. The truth is that they did nothing well except make a strong race. It was directed by Matthias Norlinder, who carried the puck on the ice wonderfully. He also took him to the area. He won that space.

Norlinder then continued to the net to tie up a defender. All of that resulted in Christian Dvorak having the only good chance for Montreal in the entire period. He missed the net with his shot.

Norlinder was the only player above 50 percent in expected goal percentage. It was in an outstanding 70 percent. The other 17 players of the club did not exceed 50 percent. Remarkable. It was the first game by a player in his NHL career and he was the best player in the first period. Great for Norlinder, but that shouldn’t happen.

In the second period, it was another rookie who led the way for Montreal. Cole Caufield had an outstanding change. He was hanging through the players and taking it to the net for a shot. Caufield was then able to reach the half wall to retrieve the puck and keep the sequence alive with an excellent pass to a wide man, Norlinder. He took another shot.

Montreal’s top two players in the middle of the game were Caufield and Norlinder. Both received a standing ovation from the fans after that tremendous change.

Later in the second period, Norlinder made another excellent play inside his own blue line, stripping the attacker easily and then immediately feeding a forward 60 feet away for a solid shot.

The two best players for the Canadiens were the two who were called up by Laval this week.

Wild goats

The Canadiens had to go out in the first to show their fans that they were hungry and ready to compete. So it was disappointing not only to see the club down by three, but also who they were fighting.

Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry were minus two in the period.

And it wasn’t one minus two where they weren’t involved. They were the culprits. In the Penguins’ fourth goal, it was again Petry and Chiarot who were victimized. They were both back and ready for a 3v2 attack and it somehow turned into a two-player getaway from the Penguins. In the sixth goal, Chiarot was back. Chiarot was minus four that night and Petry was minus three.

It is a mystery what is happening with Petry, who was outstanding last season. He only has two assists for a quarter of the season, and that’s with time spent on the first drive of power play in large part. That’s with more than 24 minutes of ice per game. Management and coaching staff trust Petry for nearly half a game in every game to make a difference in a positive way.

And it is impossible to understand why this happens. It does not appear to be the same player. If the club wants to improve this season, more than any other player, Petry has to turn this around. Play almost half the game. He plays the power game. It is deep in the minus and has a colon.

Wilde’s Letters

As this season progresses, the question that will become increasingly popular will be about shaking the Canadiens for the future. How big will the rebuild be, anyway? Some deep rebuilding is looming as the Canadiens need to finish the season 44 and 19 to reach a playoff spot. That is already insurmountable.

The players who will definitely be renewed or traded are Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak and Chris Wideman. They’re the only regulars in the lineup who are unrestricted free agents. Kulak and Wideman won’t get much on the market. Kulak maybe a fourth round and Wideman a fifth. They won’t be worth more since there are now 16 teams that are out of the playoffs.

Expect about 12 of those teams to be salespeople. There are many sellers with expansion. Chiarot would likely be looking for a first-round pick. He had an excellent postseason last season, and his skills are necessary during the hockey postseason.

If the rebuild is bigger, this could be a shocking trading deadline season. However, remember that the size of the rebuild is up to the general manager. As it stands now, Marc Bergevin always believes his team is close to greatness, so Montreal would not be a pushy salesperson.

If the club gets aggressive, the only name that comes to mind is Carey Price. Price is now 34 years old and there is no doubt that he would like to win a Stanley Cup. That means, again, you would have to waive your no-trade clause like you did with the expansion draft.

Price has five years left on his contract at $ 10.5 million per season, so the Canadiens would have to grab a large chunk of that contract to absolve him. It’s not likely to happen, but if a team is close to having a cup shot and is thin on the net, it is possible.

The possibility of Price going forward increases with the depth of how horrible this season gets. At a rate of 46 points, the will to do a massive rebuild is gaining strength. If the club can get it going and flirt with an 80-point season, the big rebuild loses steam.

This league may surprise you. It was suggested in the Call of the Wilde last season that Montreal wouldn’t protect Shea Weber, or Price, and that’s exactly what happened. At the time, it was not so well received.

It’s early, but the feeling these days in Montreal is that something has to give.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after every Canadiens game.