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  1. The biggest disappointment in the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 loss in Montreal on Monday night wasn’t the final score. It was that after a terrible start and stewing on a 3-1 deficit after 20 minutes, it only got worse. There was no response. There was no uptick in effort. The mistakes the team made in the first period were repeated in the second. And after two more Montreal goals, Travis Green called his timeout with more than half the hockey game remaining. And still nothing. Well, except for another Montreal goal before the middle frame was through. It was a forgettable night all around for a team that was rested and carried a four-game win streak into action. Give Montreal credit. The Habs play hard and pressure the puck. But the Canucks were the authors of their own demise on Monday repeatedly skating into traffic, making brutal decisions with the puck and then failing to recover – and on more than a few miscues it’s fair to question the effort made in an attempt to recover. The defending on the first Montreal goal, the third Habs scoring play and the fifth Canadiens goal was unacceptable. That’s three goals in the first 28 minutes and it doesn’t include the 2-0 goal where Nate Schmidt handcuffed Adam Gaudette with a surprise drop pass that turned into a partial breakaway for Artturi Lehkonen. That was just a bad play, but wasn’t the result of shoddy defense or a lack of effort. Montreal made scoring look easy on Monday night. But a huge part of that was just how easy the Canucks made it for them.

 

  1. While there was plenty of blame to go around on the night, let’s put this one on the Lotto Line. The Canucks three best forwards were complete no shows on Monday. Brock Boeser has had a terrific start to the season, so he gets credit for that. But he was as culpable as his linemates in Montreal. The trio was outshot 9-1 and the scoring chances were 8-0 for the Habs with Boeser, Elias Pettersson and JT Miller on the ice at even-strength. And the Canadiens scored three of their six goals against the Canucks top line. Miller’s night was particularly egregious. Individually – and Green eventually had no choice but to split the line – Miller didn’t have a shot on goal and had just one attempt. He didn’t register a hit and had three giveaways. With Miller on the ice, the Habs held a 17-4 shot advantage and a 14-1 edge in scoring chances. Those numbers are hard to process for a guy who led the Canucks in scoring last season and was many nights the team’s offensive motor. While Miller is better than a point a game on the season (2+8=10 in 9 games), he has only scored in one game –January 27th versus Ottawa – and has yet to be the best player on the ice on any night so far. He seemed aggravated by starting the season in COVID protocol, he was visually frustrated during a game against the Senators last week and just seemed completely out of sorts on Monday night. The Canucks need last season’s scoring leader back and taking over hockey games again, soon. Tuesday night would be a good time for Miller’s best game of the season.

 

  1. The Canucks needed a save from Braden Holtby on Monday night. They certainly would have liked one on the 2-0 goal that would have kept them close early on. It’s hard to find fault on many of the other goals that were clean looks or easy tap-ins, but when a goalie gives up six on the night, there are surely a handful he’d like to have stopped. It’s easy to second guess whether Monday should have been a Thatcher Demko start. Demko was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week after going 3-0 and allowing just three goals in that span. He was holding the hot hand and seemed like a solid option to start again in the opener of this two game set in Montreal. But the Canucks were likely going to split the games, so it wasn’t a shock that they turned to Holtby. Still, he didn’t deliver and didn’t get much help from the team in front of him. However, in his six starts so far as a Canuck, Holtby has held only the lowly Ottawa Senators under three goals in any game he’s played. They need more from the veteran puck stopper who has now left the door wide open for Demko to get on a run with no back to back games for the Canucks for the rest of the month after tomorrow’s rematch with the Habs.

 

  1. Here’s something you rarely heard at any point last season: the Canucks power play is costing them hockey games. Last season the Canucks feasted with the man-advantage scoring 57 times in 69 games. Their power play was fourth best in the NHL at 24.2% -- and it was a difference maker on many nights. It also allowed just four short-handed goals all season. This year, the Canucks power play is scuffling along at 13.6% and has already given up three shorties (including another on Monday) – all to Montreal. The power play is now 6 for 44 on the season, but that barely scratches the surface of the story. Three of those goals came in a January 20th 6-5 victory over the Habs and two others came against Ottawa. So they have scored three of their power play goals in one game and have three over their other 11. Beyond that, the team is now 0 for 21 on the power play on the road and is actually net -1 after allowing Lehkonen’s short-handed effort. The same component parts are in place from last season’s dominant top unit. The Canucks have found their good stuff once in a dozen games, but need it far more often. It all tracks back to needing their best players to get on the same page and get with the program. It hasn’t happened nearly enough for the Canucks so far.

 

  1. It’s wild to think but on Tuesday, the Canucks will already pass the midway mark of their season series with the Habs. And based on the early returns, it’s safe to say they don’t match-up particularly well with Montreal. The Canadiens have already hung seven, six and a pair of fives on the Canucks. Add it all up and Montreal is outscoring Vancouver 23-12 through their first four meetings with wins in three of them and a shootout point in the other. The Canadiens have six wins and 14 points in the standings. Half of their victories and half of their points have come at the expense of the Canucks. It’s not too early to wonder would happen if the Canucks manage to make the playoffs and draw Montreal as a first round opponent. Actually, maybe that’s a thought that is best left for another day. Regardless, Tuesday night is important on a number of levels. The Canucks need to muster a response to what happened Monday. But they also need to recognize the importance of these individual season series. The best way to punch a ticket to the post-season is to hold your own against the teams you’re battling with in the all-Canadian division. The Canucks are already down 3-1 in this set with Montreal and now in danger of losing touch with the Canadiens and the Canucks also trail Calgary 2-0 in that season series. Beating up on Ottawa is fine. But everyone else will, too. So it’s not enough for the Canucks to be 3-0 against the Senators when they are 3-6 against the other teams in the division. That math won’t add up at the end of the season.