What Happened
The Montreal Canadiens are 3-3-1 through seven games to open the season, a record Sportsnet's Eric Engels writes is worse than their play suggests. Engels points to strong five-on-five performance and argues Montreal would be 4-2-1, or possibly 5-1-1, if it had been rewarded for that work. Head coach Martin St. Louis said after Wednesday's 5-4 loss to the Washington Capitals that the team is playing good hockey and will keep pushing.
Key Details
- Montreal's record is 3-3-1 through its first seven games, per Sportsnet.
- The Canadiens reached the Eastern Conference Final last spring.
- Montreal won its opening-night game in Toronto.
- The Canadiens erased a four-goal deficit in Pittsburgh to force overtime and earn a point.
- Engels writes Montreal deserved to lose as badly as it did to Carolina in the home opener.
- Engels writes the Canadiens have gone 2-2-0 in the four games since.
What It Means
Engels' assessment frames Montreal's start as a results-versus-process gap rather than a collapse. The Canadiens came into the season with expectations raised by last spring's conference final run, so a sub-.500 points pace draws attention. If the five-on-five play Engels describes holds, the record could correct itself; if not, the early points lost could matter in a tight Eastern Conference race.