Nov 9, 2021

"It cost us a lot, so that’s the main thing right now," coach Dominique Ducharme says when asked what's No. 1 thing that needs fixing. Author of the article: Article content Where do you start when it comes to fixing a team that has a 3-10-0 record to start the season? Advertisement Article content We apologize, but this video has failed to load. Try refreshing your browser, or Canadiens Notebook: Penalty-kill is killing the Habs this season Back to video Through Sunday’s games, the Canadiens ranked 29th in the NHL in penalty-killing with a 66 per cent success rate. During Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens gave up two power-play goals on two opportunities. The Golden Knights hadn’t scored a power-play goal all season before Saturday. They are now 2-for-24 (8.3 per cent). “The PK’s the first thing because I don’t think we struggled Saturday night,” Ducharme said after practice Monday at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard when asked what’s the No. 1 thing that needs to be fixed on his team. “Five-on-five we gave up four (scoring) chances and we had 20-some — and same thing Tuesday night.” Advertisement Article content The Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 last Tuesday before losing 6-2 to the New York Islanders on Thursday. The Canadiens’ penalty-killers have allowed 16 power-play goals on 47 opportunities. The Canadiens have also struggled on the power play, ranking 26th in the NHL with a 13.6 per cent success rate. They are 3-for-12 on the power play in the last four games (25 per cent). “It’s doing better,” Ducharme said about the power play. “We want to keep working on that. PK’s another thing. It cost us a lot, so that’s the main thing right now.” Brendan Gallagher was asked after practice how the Canadiens can stay positive after such a bad start to the season. “It’s not about being positive or negative,” he said. “I think we have to have a certain mindset as individuals and as a group. Whether we won or lost the game before, you shouldn’t be able to tell when we show up at the rink the next day. It’s about short-term memory and moving on. You go over the game in your head, you look at video, you digest what happened, you look at areas to improve and then you’re on to your next opponent. Advertisement Article content “There should be a certain attitude — it’s not being overly positive, it’s not being overly negative,” Gallagher added. “It’s just an even keel that no matter what you’re going through you can’t really control what’s happened in the past. All we have control of is what’s about to happen here. You win one game and you leave the rink feeling good about yourself and then you have to try and continue that feeling. But it’s about that even-keel mindset where regardless of what’s happened we have a job to do and we’re striving towards finding those solutions.” The Canadiens are back in action Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Kings will be at the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM). L'entraînement en rafale. ???? Article content The return of Price Carey Price has completed his 30-day stay in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program and was at the Bell Sports Complex on Sunday to meet with the team’s training staff. Price wasn’t at the practice rink on Monday, but will be back Tuesday to have his knee examined after off-season surgery and the training staff will start coming up with a plan for him returning to the ice. Price missed all of training camp while recovering from the knee surgery before entering the player assistance program on Oct. 7. Could Price’s return give his teammates some added motivation going forward? “To say we needed any extra motivation right now I think is probably untrue,” Gallagher said. “We came into this season with certain expectations, certain goals in mind for our group. We’re obviously not meeting those right now. As athletes you don’t need any extra motivation. We know how important Pricey is and how big of a part of our group that he is. It definitely would be an added bonus for him to come back into a better situation than it is right now. But for us right now I think there’s just enough motivation right now for the simple fact that you just hate losing and you want to end that.” Advertisement Article content Gallagher said he had only spoken briefly with Price since the goalie left the player assistance program but was looking forward to seeing him in person on Tuesday. The lines Forwards Jonathan Drouin and Christian Dvorak both took therapy days on Monday and didn’t take part in the practice. Drouin has missed the last two games after being hit in the head with a shot during last Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Ducharme said Drouin doesn’t have a concussion and is day-to-day, as is Dvorak. Here’s how the forward lines and defence pairings looked at practice: Hoffman – Suzuki – Toffoli Article content Scoring problems The Canadiens have been outscored 45-26 this season and are averaging only two goals per game. Former Canadiens coach Michel Therrien used to often say a team needs to score three goals to win a game in the NHL. The Canadiens have scored a total of 13 goals in their 10 losses. The players on the third and fourth lines at practice Monday — Artturi Lehkonen, Jake Evans, Joel Armia, Michael Pezzetta, Cédric Paquette and Alex Belzile — have combined for one goal this season, scored by Evans. “What I look at is the number of chances you can get,” Ducharme said after practice when asked specifically about the third line of Evans between Lehkonen and Armia. “I think they’re getting better at getting chances, so they need that net presence. The way they play, protecting the puck, bringing pucks to the net, going at the net, driving and using their abilities on that. But also they need to finish. Advertisement Article content “That’s something that it’s tough for a coach to finish … it’s all in the moment there,” Ducharme added. “You need to take your chances. I think a few times they are missing the net way too often, trying to pick corners that are too small of a target that they miss. So there’s a lot of good things they do but, at the end of the day, they need to finish.” Petry loses his cool Defenceman Jeff Petry showed his frustration during Saturday’s game when he tried to make a pass from the Canadiens’ blue line that didn’t work because the forwards left the ice on a line change. Petry went to the bench after the play, slamming the door and screaming at the forwards who had left the ice. “Just frustration,” Petry said after practice Monday when asked about the play. “So it’s on me now to, I guess, channel that frustration in other ways and not have that happen again.” Advertisement Article content Petry has struggled this season with 0-2-2 totals in 13 games and a minus-2. Last season, Petry had 6-8-14 totals and was plus-13 after 13 games. With the absence of Shea Weber, Petry has become the Canadiens’ undisputed No. 1 defenceman this season and he is also missing his regular partner, Joel Edmundson, who continues to recover from a lower-body injury. “I think putting a little added pressure on myself isn’t helping,” Petry said. “The last little bit my focus has just honestly been to go out and have fun. Have fun, enjoy playing. When things aren’t going well you’re gripping your stick, you’re fighting things. I’m just trying to go back out there and have fun with it and try to build confidence with the puck. Defensively, I feel that my game … I’m happy with my defensive game. Where I need to find that confidence is with the puck and making plays.” Advertisement Article content Caufield’s slump continues Cole Caufield failed to score a goal in his first two games with the AHL’s Laval Rocket on the weekend after being sent down by the Canadiens. The Rocket were shut out 4-0 by the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday and lost 4-2 to the Utica Comets on Sunday with Caufield picking up one assist. Caufield failed to score a goal and had only one assist in 10 games with the Canadiens this season before being sent to Laval. Caufield also failed to score a goal in the last five playoffs games last season with the Canadiens, meaning he has now played 17 games without a goal. Defenceman Mattias Norlinder, who was sent to the Rocket for a conditioning stint last Thursday after being injured at training camp, was pointless in the two weekend games. The Rocket are back in action Wednesday night at Place Bell against the Belleville Senators and after that game Norlinder must return to the Canadiens. Advertisement Article content What’s next? After Tuesday’s game against the Kings, the Canadiens have a practice scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Bell Sports Complex before wrapping up the five-game home stand Thursday against the Calgary Flames (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM). The Canadiens will practise Friday at 10:30 a.m. in Brossard before flying to Detroit, where they will face the Red Wings on Saturday (7 p.m., SNE, CITY, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM). The Canadiens will fly to Boston after Saturday’s game and play the Bruins on Sunday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM). The Canadiens will wrap up a three-game road trip next Tuesday in New York against the Rangers (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).