Canadiens Notebook: having a 0-4 start shouldn’t be surprising

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It should come as no surprise that the Canadiens are off to a 0-4-0 start this season.

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Any NHL team that loses its number one goalkeeper (Carey Price), its best defender and captain (Shea Weber) and its number one center (Phillip Danault) during the preseason is expected to struggle. The Canadiens also lost Tomas Tatar, which means two-thirds of their old No. 1 line is gone and Brendan Gallagher is the only one left.

Add in the fact that top four defender Joel Edmundson has been sidelined with an undisclosed injury and has now left the team to be with his father, who suffers from cancer, and understandably the Canadiens did not win in his fifth game of the season Thursday night at the Bell Center against the Carolina Hurricanes (7 pm, TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

“You miss all those guys, but we’ve replaced them with good players too,” defender Ben Chiarot said after Wednesday’s practice at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. “It has nothing to do with the staff in the room. We have the ability and the talent there. It’s about putting it together and putting it on ice. “

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The Canadiens haven’t been able to do that so far, scoring just three goals in their first four games. They are the only team in the NHL that does not have a single point in the rankings.

“It is up to each individual man to do his best every night,” Chiarot said. “It’s in the leadership group to make sure you get that from everyone. When you are 0-4, everyone has to look at themselves before looking at others and pointing to numbers. So I think the most important thing right now is that everyone looks at themselves, not that they point a finger at someone else. “

Where is the offense?

Jonathan Drouin, who has two goals, is the only forward to score for the Canadiens this season. The other goal came from defender Chris Hoffman.

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“It’s only been four games,” said forward Tyler Toffoli, who led the Canadiens last season with 28 goals in 52 games. “I think I have 12, 13 games without scoring (before). Everyone is now talking about scoring goals and how everyone has to score. I wish we could score 20 goals a night, but we don’t. It’s a team game and we can win 1-0. It is not about winning games 5-0.

“Our goal is to win games and whoever is providing the offense, that’s what it is and we have enough players in the lineup who can contribute,” added Toffoli. “We all have to play the same way and when we play in the right way it is easier to create offense and play in their zone.”

Toffoli noted that when he stormed into the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012-13, his focus was more on playing a solid 200-foot game than scoring goals.

“That’s something I’m proud of,” said Toffoli, who is minus 4 this season and is tied with Chiarot for worst plus / minus on the team. “So for me being on the ice on goals against right now and not being able to contribute is definitely frustrating and honestly that’s more frustrating for me than scoring. So I think we have to solve that 200 foot game.

“You’re not going to have six Grade A scoring chances a night,” added Toffoli. “You could get one. You may have to get one off your foot or your face, whatever it is. You just have to find a way. “

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Juggling the lines

In an effort to generate some offense, head coach Dominique Ducharme again juggled his lines in practice on Wednesday.

Toffolil, who had been on a line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, found himself on a new line with Mathieu Perreault and Caufield.

“It’s great,” Toffolli said of Perreault. “Is brave. He likes to hold onto the puck. He’s very tenacious, so hopefully we can act tomorrow, whether it’s scoring goals or just giving our team a boost. That is what we must do and we must perform. I think we’re all excited to get on the ice tomorrow and do what we can.

“It doesn’t really matter who you’re playing with,” added Toffoli. “You just have to run and act. So that’s what I’m trying to do. I try to find the game that I want to be in and act. It has been a slightly longer process than usual. So I just have to go play and find the dirty areas and just do it. “

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The lines

Here’s how the attack lines and defense pairs looked at Wednesday’s practice:

Hoffman – Suzuki – Gallagher
Drouin – Dvorak – Anderson
Toffoli – Perreault – Caufield
Lehkonen – Evans – Armia
Brooks – Paquette

Ear – Petry
Chiarot – Wideman
Romanov – Savard
Niku

New leadership group

With Weber, Price, Danault and Corey Perry missing from last season, the Canadiens need a new leadership group to step up.

“The leadership in the room has to keep the group in the right mindset of what we are capable of when we stick to our plan,” Chiarot said. “We are lucky to have had some success (last season) seeing what the coaches present to us. A lot of teams don’t have that where they don’t come out of a successful career to see what it’s like and what it can do to play the right way for a team. So we are lucky that it is fresh in our minds and we have to get back to the same page we were on and are working towards.

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“The leadership in the room has to keep everyone on the same page,” added Chiarot. “Make sure we are getting the message from the coaching staff and that it is being followed in the room. We can’t allow guys to go on their own page. This is not how the game works and this is not how we are going to be successful. We are not a stellar team with 50 scorers. We have a group of hard-working guys who need to play together to be successful, so I think it’s best if they all stay on the same page. “

Whats Next?

The Canadiens have a morning skating scheduled for 10:30 am Thursday at the Bell Sports Complex before taking on the Sharks on Thursday night at the Bell Center.

The Canadiens are scheduled to practice at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Bell Sports Complex before finishing their four-game home booth Saturday night at the Bell Center against the Detroit Red Wings. (7 pm, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

After that, the Canadiens will hit the road for a four-game trip to the West Coast with games in Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim.

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