The Canadiens entered the 4 Nations Face-Off break with a 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday at the Bell Centre.
The club begins a 12-day rest having lost eight of their last nine games.
Montreal was down three goals early in the second period, but mounted a spirited comeback that just pulled up short.
Brendan Gallagher scored twice. The newly created line with Gallagher, Christian Dvorak and Juraj Slafkovsky ignited the moribund offence.
Montreal had a 2-0 record against the Bolts, but failed to complete the season sweep against their divisional foe.
The Bolts scored on their first two shots. Nick Paul stayed behind while the Habs turned it over at their blue line. Slafkovsky with the giveaway. Paul all alone in front of Jakub Dobes went bar down on the backhand.
Things got worse when the Habs allowed a rare 4 on 1. Victor Hedman finished it off with his eighth goal of the season.
Montreal broke their 187:50 scoring drought at home with just over a minute remaining in the first period. Gallagher halved the Tampa lead on the power play to make it 2-1.
Tampa Bay started the second period with a man-advantage, and they used the opportunity to extend their lead to 3-1. The Bolts turned Dobes inside out with their passing before Brayden Point chased the goalie from the game with the power-play marker. Sam Montembeault replaced the rookie netminder and stopped 11 of 12 shots the rest of the way.
At 6:43 of the second, the Canadiens allowed a potential backbreaker off the draw. Longtime Sabre Zemgus Girgensons muscled his way in front and scored his first as a Bolt to give his club a commanding 4-1 lead. For the ninth time since Jan. 18, the Habs gave up four or more goals in a game.
Unlike Saturday where the third and fourth goals deflated the Habs, this time around the club got noticeably feistier down three. Dvorak from the top of the circle scored his sixth of the campaign with an uncharacteristic rocket to pull Montreal to within two goals.
Gallagher’s line kept rolling in the third period. Gallagher scored his second of the afternoon on another snipe to reduce the deficit to one goal, 4-3 Bolts. Gallagher passed Max Pacioretty for all-time career points for the Canadiens with 449.
That’s as close as Montreal would get. Anthony Cirelli added an empty netter to give his club a 5-3 win.
Although the Habs couldn’t stop the bleeding, they entered the break with some positive signs. Patrik Laine didn’t hit the scoresheet, but he played his strongest game both with and without the puck since entering his current 10-game scoring funk. Josh Anderson was once again flying. The power forward got the club’s second penalty shot in as many games and totalled 11 shots over the weekend.
Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki hit the break on cold streaks, with a combined one goal in the team’s last seven games, but they looked hungry from the second period onward. They’ll need to bottle those frustrations for when they return on Feb. 22.
Montreal’s playoff hopes have faded to the point where only Buffalo is behind them in the Eastern Conference standings. Barring another win streak between now and the trade deadline, the Canadiens will once again be sellers at the trade deadline as they look to the future instead of the present.
Speaking of which, TSN’s Pierre Lebrun reported the Habs and Jake Evans are “not close” on a contract extension. Could his time in Montreal be coming to an end? The Liveblog commenters seem to think so, at least more than they did a month when the Habs were flying high.
3. “They have now lost 8 out of 9. Hughes wanted to see how they reacted to being in the “mix”, and now he has his answer. Time to go into sell mode, and try to get as high a pick as possible. It’s the only way to go at this point.” —James T
2. “Well I hope the guys get some well needed rest. It’s a BS schedule nobody asked for. Really s***** of the brain trust to organize this 4 Nations during the year and make these guys play so many back to backs.” —William deVry
1. “Why is it now every game the opposition goaltender outplays Montembeault or Dobes? Also they are not the same team without Guhle.” — Dennis O’Keefe