Close but no cigar again as hard-luck Canadiens fall to Rangers

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Defenceman Joel Edmundson has said the Canadiens can compete with any team in the NHL and, judging by recent results, it’s difficult to dispute the proclamation.

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The Canadiens are on a five-game losing streak and, somewhat incredibly, all five defeats have come by one goal, including Thursday night’s 4-3 setback in a shootout to the powerful New York Rangers at the Bell Centre. It marked the second consecutive contest in which Montreal has taken a strong team — following Carolina on Tuesday — to a shootout. And that came after three successive one-goal road defeats against Los Angeles, Anaheim and Vegas, respectively.

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There’s no doubt the Canadiens are competitive but, for whatever reason — no doubt the 11 players injured — can’t get over that elusive hump. Of the 12 forwards dressed against the Rangers, only four were part of the team when the season began last October.

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“I think we had a great effort tonight,” said goaltender Sam Montembeault, who started for only the second time since Feb. 25, against Ottawa. “We’re now 0-5 in our last five, but I think we could have been 5-0. We’ve played some great hockey. It could have gone either way tonight.”

Three times the Canadiens squandered one-goal leads, despite scoring a shorthanded goal. But Montreal also allowed two power-play scores.

“We’re playing well,” said Montembeault, who faced 33 shots, including 14 in the second period when the Canadiens were badly outplayed. “We’re playing the right way. We’re competing. The bounces are going to go our way soon.”

Montembeault stopped Kaapo Kakko’s backhand in the opening round of the shootout before being beaten by Mike Zibanejad, who made a pretty move before scoring on his forehand. Rem Pitlick, captain Nick Suzuki and Alex Belzile all failed to beat Igor Shesterkin. The Canadiens now have a 4-2 shootout record.

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While rookie defenceman Kaiden Guhle returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury — he played three after missing nearly two months with a knee injury — centre Christian Dvorak became the latest Montreal player sidelined on Thursday with a lower-body injury.

The 21-year-old Guhle, selected 16th overall by the Canadiens in the 2020 entry draft, played a strong game. The fluid skater opened the scoring after only 35 seconds, drew an assist on Belzile’s third goal in as many games, produced two shots and logged slightly more than 20 minutes on 24 shifts.

Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis knows nothing more can be asked of his healthy skaters, who continue delivering solid efforts.

“We’re showing we’re in every game,” he said. “This game could have gone either way. Last game could have gone either way, and a lot of our games on the road could have gone either way. I think the guys are seeing that, so they’re not coming to the rink feeling sorry for themselves. They bring enthusiasm.

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“A lot of (AHL) guys come up and we’re still able to compete. I think it proves to me that our collective game is more important than any individual, and I think we’re showing that.”

For the second consecutive game, the Canadiens could have easily produced more than three goals. Late in the second period, defenceman Mike Matheson hit the post. Josh Anderson, who produced the shorthanded goal at 13:20 of the second, had a breakaway in the third, but saw his shot stopped.

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard also must be shaking his head. With regulation time elapsing, he deked defenceman Jacob Trouba only to be denied. Harvey-Pinard also struck the post in overtime, when each team had three shots but Montreal had the better scoring opportunities, including Anderson, who cut in alone from the right side.

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Anderson now has 19 goals this season, second on the team behind Suzuki’s 21. He has nothing to be ashamed of, but couldn’t help feeling he let his teammates down.

“The chances that I had, you bury one of those and you put the game away,” Anderson said. “It’s a game of inches sometimes. That’s the difference between a 20-goal scorer and a 30-goal scorer. I’ve been saying that to myself a lot. You bear down on those Grade-A chances and, sometimes, that’s the difference.

“We’re right there, like I’ve been saying a lot lately,” he added. “You keep working and find a way to win, those chances are going to start going in and we’re going to start piling up some wins here.”

Nonetheless, the Rangers are considered Stanley Cup contenders — moreso following their recent acquisitions of Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola. The Canadiens played them virtually even.

Montreal will attempt to avoid its second six-game losing streak this season Saturday night, when it hosts New Jersey.

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