What’s the difference between a reason and an excuse?  By the way, don’t worry.  There will not be a nauseating Merriam-Webster dictionary definition comparison of both terms here.    

Professional athletes will rarely acknowledge or admit that fatigue played a role in a poor performance.  Both Jonathan Drouin and Jake Allen post game were unwilling to admit that the fact that they stepped on to the ice just over 19 hours after their previous game against the Canucks contributed to the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames last night.  Some would argue it is even commendable to take the high road and not take the low hanging fruit of blaming the schedule.  But how else can one explain the difference between a dominant showing against Vancouver and an imposter’s performance against the Flames?

Just 24 hours ago the Habs were relentless on the forecheck, showing off their speed both in the neutral and offensive zones to create turnovers and capitalize on them.  Last night against Calgary the Canadiens spent the entire first period simply surviving in their own zone, and not necessarily because the Flames under new head coach Darryl Sutter were blitzing the team into mistakes.  No, those wounds were self-inflicted.  For some of the players, their failings were physical.  Try as they may, the legs did not meet the willingness of the body.  For others, such as captain Shea Weber, fatigue caught up to them right between the ears. 

On what would prove to be the game-winning goal by Flames forward Josh Leivo, the man mountain inexplicably threw a suicide pass up the middle of the ice behind Jesperi Kotkaniemi.  In a split second, the puck was turned over in the slot and Leivo picked the corner over Jake Allen’s blocker. Now, even for his failings this season in terms of puck distribution, Weber 99 out of 100 times does not make that play that had about a 1 percent chance of working out. 

That’s what fatigue will do.  Weber’s partner for the night, rookie Alexander Romanov, suffered more from the physical exhaustion on the night.  Many a time the young Russian could have skated his way out of trouble or at least created a better angle for a pass out of the zone to one of his forwards.  But as countless former NHL players have expressed over the years, there are simply games where the cement legs start to creep in before the puck is even dropped.  It was an unfair evening to properly judge the potential partnership many have been crying out to see all season.  Both the young pup and the old dog struggled to cope with the demands placed on them by the NHL schedule makers. 

There were some Canadiens skaters who seemingly got a good night’s sleep and ate their Wheaties yesterday morning.  Jeff Petry grew into the game and was certainly the liveliest of the bunch on the back end.  Phillip Danault’s line with Joel Armia and Tomas Tatar certainly had the most energy, looking the most like the well rested version of themselves.  Which was probably the reason why they remained untouched by head coach Dominique Ducharme when he turned on the blender on his top two units to try and obtain a spark from his group.  Tyler Toffoli popped up in soft zones on the ice but even his typically clinical finishing let him down.  Besides those five the Habs had more valleys than peaks from both their forwards and defensemen.  Which would account for their uneven and disjointed performance.   

Goaltender Jake Allen made some smart saves in the third period when more of his teammates joined the action of the game.  Corey Perry’s fifth goal of the season even teased Habs fans that with a late push they could capture a somewhat undeserved point.  Maybe even two.  But that push became more of a nudge as the Canadiens battled but could not carve out any clearly threatening chances to beat Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom.

As for Calgary it was far from convincing to most that new head coach Darryl Sutter will turn the ship around.  The Flames look to be the most likely team to potentially threaten Montreal’s participation in the playoffs.  One game a second half doth not make.  But Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan were largely anonymous last night.  Only the ever present Matthew Tkachuk looked like the Flames star who could do some damage against a clearly second best Canadiens team.

Let’s not sugar coat it: the Habs were simply not good last night.  They most likely got the result they deserved.  But the performance was understandable considering the circumstances.  And if not for a terrible pass and a bad line change, the Canadiens could have even snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.  Even the most critical and cynical of fans surely had to acknowledge the strange situation surrounding last night’s game.  The real Habs are more like the team we saw on Wednesday night.  Not the club that hit the ice up in Alberta last night.  The second game of this two game set is set for Saturday night.  Let’s see what they can do with a good night’s sleep. 

Player Ratings

Goaltender

Jake Allen – 7/10

No chance on both goals by the Flames.  Made a great glove save on Hanafin in the slot when his team were pushing.  Desperation save on Backlund in tight in the third somehow stayed out.  Just another solid day at the office. 

Defencemen

Shea Weber – 4/10

Tried to set the physical tone early on but seemingly expended all of his energy there.  Like the majority of his mates just didn’t have his legs.  No real chemistry with Romanov but the pair were certainly in a tight spot.  His horror pass up the middle led to the eventual game winner. His shot was tipped in by Perry late.  Tired. 

Alexander Romanov – 4/10

Imagine he has played in some pretty strange conditions in the KHL before.  But not against NHL players.  Never moved his legs well as he and Weber were continuously hemmed in their own zone.  Didn’t fare much better when moved alongside different partners.  Not much offensively either.  Got caught between two minds on Leivo’s first and didn’t take a man on the odd man rush.  Led the team with six hits though.  Also tired. 

Jeff Petry – 6/10

Had a momentary mental lapse on Leivo’s first as he went to change and then thought better of it.  But was the Canadiens most energetic defensemen throughout and looked most likely to provide some offense going forward.  Did a solid job defensively as well in terms of breaking out of his zone.  Not at his best but one of the few whose B game was still good enough. 

Joel Edmundsson – 5/10

When with Petry he looked good.  Without him looked a bit lost at times.  Don’t want to be a broken record but it was rather obvious his legs were gone rather early.  Soldiered on and played well on the penalty kill.  Didn’t hurt his league leading plus/minus either, which is most important. 

Victor Mete – 5/10

Can’t imagine it was easy to be thrown into a situation like last night, trying to find your game after a long layoff with subpar performances from his teammates.  Got some room to roam at times but as is his modus operandi he couldn’t pick the right pass or shot to threaten the Flames.  Looked tentative defensively but understandable considering his circumstances.  He’ll have plenty of time to shake off the rust with Chiarot out for a while with a fractured hand. 

Brett Kulak – 5/10

His greatest contribution on the night was getting high sticked in the face which gave the Habs a glorious opportunity on the powerplay late on.  Like most of the time didn’t do anything awful but could have been better.  He’ll need to elevate his game going forward with Chiarot out of the picture. 

Forwards

Nick Suzuki – 4/10

A whole lot of nothing, but when a not particularly fast player is gassed it’s not totally unexpected.  Created very little offensively.  The team could have certainly used a shot in the arm from him.  Continued a disappointing run of form of late.  Lost at times defensively as well.  No shots on goal either.  Better on faceoffs but still not good enough. 

Jonathan Drouin – 4/10

A rare off night from him.  Still showcased his speed defensively which was at least positive to see.  But like Suzuki no shots on goal and didn’t do nearly enough to either break out with speed or make plays in the offensive zone.  Very quiet.   

Josh Anderson – 4/10

Anyone else hold their breath when he dropped them with Lucic, considering what happened to Chiarot less than 24 hours ago?  Admirable but Flames will take that trade off any day of the week.  Didn’t have that extra gear we’ve become so accustomed to.  Like battle level though.  Kept to the outside all night long.     

Phillip Danault – 6/10

It’s nice he scored his goal the night before but you don’t want the best chances on the night falling to him.  But one of the very few to have his legs and used them to at least gain some offensive zone time and keep the puck out of his end.  The holding penalty late was foolish.  But really stood out compared to his anemic colleagues. 

Joel Armia – 6/10

Led the team in hits with four.  Last night he had those moments of dominance that teases us all.  Really competitive in one-on-one battles, which is sometimes lacking.  The fact that he and his linemates had some chemistry was one of the few positives from last night’s game as they look set to be together for a while.

Tomas Tatar – 6/10

The Canadiens most consistent forward. Should have scored on the powerplay off a superb pass from Kotkaniemi but denied by Markstrom’s blocker.  But he looked much more mentally and physically fresh compared to his teammates.  Led the team in shots on goal and added three hits for good measure.  Building block.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi – 5/10

His pass to Tatar on the man advantage was the highlight of his game.  Those positive moments were too few and far between however.  No shots on goal either.  Set up to fail by Weber’s pass for Leivo’s second.  Nothing he could do there.  Only centerman to be better than 50 per cent on draws.  Didn’t run the powerplay nearly as well as he has of late.  But again, like everyone getting poor ratings here, looked tired.  Needs to get a little mean.  

Brendan Gallagher – 5/10

Tried as hard as he could to impact the game and had a point blank chance fall to him for a potential goal but Markstrom turned him away with a stick side save.  Not nearly as combative as he usually is, which could not be a greater indication of his weariness. Decent enough considering the circumstances.

Tyler Toffoli – 6/10

Maybe it’s because he never really looks like he’s skating fast but he was one of the few who didn’t look exhausted.  Ghosted past a few Flames late but fired a slot shot wide in what was the one of the Habs best chances on the night.  One of the few effective forecheckers. Led the forwards in ice time.

Jake Evans – 4/10

Decent enough on the penalty kill.  But not particularly noticeable anywhere else.  It’s not his game but when the team is struggling you’d like to see some more offensive desperation.  More than anyone else needs to work on faceoffs.    

Paul Byron – 5/10

Had a chance to tie things up shortly after Perry scored but couldn’t solve Markstrom.  Did some alright work but like Anderson couldn’t find that extra gear to get loose.  His slashing penalty effectively killed the comeback.  But one of the dumbest rules in the NHL.  Slashing a stick out of someone’s hand when they only have one hand on it cannot be two minutes.  Doesn’t seem right.    

Corey Perry – 7/10

His hand eye coordination is ridiculous.  Never mind the goal, which was a sweet deflection in tight to give the Habs hope. Casually negated an icing with a tip out of his zone earlier that very few probably saw.  He’s on pace for a solid 10 goal campaign.  After his goal went straight back to the front of the net to cause some hell.  Didn’t do much other than score.  Which is kind of the point. 

Coaches

Dominique Ducharme – 7/10

The coach can’t force five energy drinks down each player’s throat to fight human biology.  Had to move his pairings around early on defense because they were struggling mightily.  Maybe could have turned on the offensive blender a little earlier.  But his changes, swapping Toffoli and Drouin, did work in spurts.  His players were exhausted though.  His team showed fight and character late.  The result was kind of pre-determined.  And yet even then they almost nicked a point.  Halts the team’s six game points streak.