It was a tough Tuesday night for Canada’s eastern NHL teams, as both the Montreal Canadiens and the Ottawa Senators fell on home ice.
Just a week after head coach Martin St-Louis labelled a shootout loss to Philadelphia as their worst game of the season, the Canadiens may have set a new low. The Los Angeles Kings effectively shut down the Habs, suffocating them into a 5-1 defeat.
The Kings brought their signature, structured style of play, maintaining an intransigent neutral zone trap that has defined them across different coaching staffs. When they execute that system properly, opponents must play mistake-free hockey. The Canadiens, unfortunately, did the opposite. They were plagued by poor decisions and a slew of turnovers, resulting in exactly the kind of sloppy play nobody aspires to.
Execution, Not Opponents, to Blame
While the Kings looked sharp, perhaps even a bit faster than usual during captain Anze Kopitar’s latest visit to Montreal, the home team was left searching for answers. Josh Anderson, who scored Montreal’s lone goal and was one of the team’s better players, acknowledged the Kings’ structure. “They’re well-coached and they obviously play a very structured game,” Anderson noted. “We talked about being careful in the neutral zone… They wait for you to make turnovers and then they strike.”
Captain Nick Suzuki, however, wasn’t interested in praising the opposition, placing the blame squarely on his own team’s shoulders. He argued that Montreal’s poor execution essentially handed the victory to the visitors on a silver platter.
Earlier in the day, Suzuki had discussed the team’s need to improve its offensive game, citing things like “creating plays on the rush, managing the puck better, starting our forecheck… and not committing turnovers.” Ironically, all those missing elements were on full display Tuesday night.
A Familiar Struggle
This loss marks the Canadiens’ ninth consecutive defeat at the hands of the Kings, a streak dating back to 2019—before the pandemic. It highlights a recurring issue for the Habs, who often struggle against teams with a deeply ingrained, recognizable identity, much like the Carolina Hurricanes.
The game unravelled quickly in the second period, with the Kings scoring three goals in just over four minutes. It was a tough outcome for goalie Samuel Montembeault, who had played well in the first period but seemed to freeze along with his teammates. “We fell asleep for three minutes in the second,” said St-Louis. “And their veteran team shut it down pretty quick.”
Senators Suffer Comeback Loss in Ottawa
Meanwhile, the Ottawa Senators suffered a different kind of heartbreak. The Sens coughed up a 2-0 lead and ultimately fell 3-2 in overtime to the Dallas Stars.
Roope Hintz played the hero for Dallas, scoring 3:04 into the extra frame. After Linus Ullmark made an initial save, Hintz managed to grab the rebound and lift the puck under the crossbar to secure the win.
Momentum Shift and a Key Injury
Things started well for Ottawa. Drake Batherson opened the scoring just 49 seconds into the game, taking a pass from Jake Sanderson and firing a wrist shot from the circle. The Senators stretched their lead to 2-0 midway through the first when Nick Jensen joined the rush, cut across the offensive zone, and beat Jake Oettinger with a shot into the top corner.
However, the Senators (8-5-4) had to play the final 40 minutes without key defenceman Thomas Chabot, who left late in the first period with an upper-body injury.
Dallas (10-4-3) began their comeback late in the second when Jason Robertson sent Mikko Rantanen in on a breakaway, who deked Ullmark. The Stars dominated the third period, outshooting Ottawa 17-6, and were rewarded on the power play when Robertson beat Ullmark on the glove side to tie the game.
Ullmark made 31 saves in the losing effort, while Oettinger stopped 26 shots for the Stars. The loss also snapped Ottawa’s eight-game home winning streak against Dallas, which had dated back to February 9, 2017.
