Montreal Canadiens: The Little Things Give You Away

Montreal Canadiens and what led to the second goal allowed…

Again, this has been something talked about all season. Shea Weber is not the player he once was. It’s not even close. Weber is approaching 36, his first stride is painfully slow, and father time is catching up. That is inevitable. The decision-making and spacing in the last year or so, in particular, has infuriated fans and media alike.

Watching Game 3 and seeing how Carey Price battled and battled, no one likes to see a game come down to the littlest and simplest of things. Matching up Auston Matthews against Shea Weber can never go well. Remember, Ducharme has the last line change. Yet, this happened all too often again and again.

Understand the context of game flow for a second as Montreal had just tied the game on a Nick Suzuki goal. Two shifts later Matthews is out there against yes, Shea Weber. There is a quote from Weber that is telling.

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber: “Obviously tonight, the second period wasn’t great… The first period was pretty even I thought. They took momentum and played a lot better in the second and ultimately that was the game.” #GoHabsGo #THW

— Ryan Szporer (@rszporer) May 25, 2021

Again, Toronto controlled the second as seen here from Natural Stats Trick. Weber had some giveaways at even strength. Two were noticeable enough. There are well-documented power-play issues. However, it is the decision-making that kills.

Weber iced the puck late in the second period when he had options. Skating a couple of extra strides instead of making the lazy play. It is easier said than done when Auston Matthews is on the ice. However, this is not the first time Weber has done it in this series. The difference here is it cost Montreal a goal against and the game.

The icing resulted in a Morgan Rielly goal on the next shift. If that icing does not happen, the defensive-zone faceoff does not either.

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Consequences of the goal yielded…

Again, maybe Montreal does not go on to win the game on Monday night. But 1-1 going into the third period looks a lot better than being down 2-1. Yes, Montreal had a much better (score-effect laden) third period but it was not enough. The Canadiens are a downhill team that thrives on playing when tied or up on an opponent. That’s especially true against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Montreal is 4-8-1 this season (1-2 in the playoffs) against Toronto for a reason. It is the little things that give you away. These margins decrease even more during the second season. Decisions create consequences. Continuing to repeat these same poor decisions lead to poor results.

When will the Montreal Canadiens learn? The answer appears all too familiar that it will be too late yet again