Montreal Canadiens' 5 Biggest Areas for Improvement Entering February

The Montreal Canadiens enter the first week February just one point back of the Eastern Conference lead with two games in hand. Things are going well, but nothing's perfect. There's still lots of room for improvement. 

The offense is sputtering a bit of late, and, after a short hot streak, the power play has gone cold again. The Habs also continue to let too many shots get to Carey Price on a nightly basis. 

Let's take a look at the Montreal Canadiens' five biggest areas that need improving as we enter February. 

Shots Against

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Carey Price

The Montreal Canadiens give up too many shots against, and if they didn't have a certain all-world goaltender, this season would be very different.

Heading into its Feb. 3 game against Buffalo, Montreal is giving up an average of 30.7 shots per game. That ranks the Habs 23rd in the NHL, which isn't where you expect to see a team that is challenging for top spot in the Eastern Conference.

Just look at the teams who give up more shots against than Montreal: Dallas, Arizona, Columbus, Ottawa, Toronto, Colorado and Buffalo. Not one of those teams would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

The only way to win when giving up that many shots per game is by having a Carey Price-caliber goalie in net on a nightly basis. It would be scary to think where the Canadiens would be if they didn't have Price saving 93.3 percent of the pucks sent his way. 

Giving up over 30 shots per game is not a the greatest formula for success and it could catch up with Montreal by season's end. Shots against is a clear area where the Canadiens need to improve. 

Secondary Scoring

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Jiri Sekac

A team's top six is supposed to contribute most of the offense, which is exactly what's happening in Montreal right now. Alex Galchenyuk has the team's last two goals, while Max Pacioretty had the two before that. 

But the bottom six has to chip in every now and again, and that just isn't happening for the Canadiens. 

Lars Eller and Jiri Sekac both haven't scored since Dec. 29. Brandon Prust since Dec. 20. Michael Bournival hasn't found the back of the net since he potted two on Jan. 2, and Manny Malhotra hasn't scored all season. 

You get the point. It's been over a month since the Habs got a goal from a forward who isn't on the top-two lines. 

Every team needs a goal now and then from its checkers and grinders. Montreal is no different. The bottom six has to contribute a few goals moving forward. 

Penalties

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Alexei Emelin (right)

Montreal isn't the most penalized team in the league by any means, but there is room for improvement here. The Canadiens currently rank 20th with 188 minor penalties on the season. While that number isn't terribly bad, it still ranks in the bottom third, a place you never want to be statistically. 

Recently, there have been a few games where the Canadiens have taken far too many penalties. In fact, five times in January the Habs took four or more penalties in a game and they took three penalties on three other occasions. 

Montreal is a solid penalty-killing team that is ranked fifth in the league at 84.3 percent. But that's beside the point. 

Taking too many penalties is just asking for trouble and it could really come back to haunt the Habs come playoffs. They need to focus on staying out of the box. 

The Power Play

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The Canadiens celebrate a goal.

The Montreal power play has been a topic of improvement all season long. And just as it seemed to have found a groove, it's sputtering again. 

After a season-long struggle, the power play got it going for a few games mid January, scoring eight times in five games. It was clicking at just under 35 percent over that span, which of course is a phenomenal number. 

But, in its last three games, Montreal has gone 0-for-2, 0-for-3 and 0-for-3, and just like that the power play is mired in an 0-for-10 slump. 

So there's definitely still room for improvement and it all seems to come from zone entry. When the Canadiens are able to set up with control, they seem to score, or at least generate chances. But too often they can't gain the offensive blue line or retrieve the puck after a dump in. And that's when the PP struggles. 

The power play showed life a few games back but the last three games prove there is still plenty of work to be done. It has to improve before the end of the season. 

Beating Bad Teams

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Here's a neat piece of information, brought to you by Mike Boone at Hockey Inside/Out: 

"

Your Montreal Canadiens have lost 17 games this season.

That total includes losses to six teams that currently sit outside playoff positions: Edmonton, Buffalo (TWICE!), Minnesota, Dallas, Ottawa and – on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon – Arizona.

"

That's seven losses, one of which was in the shootout, meaning the Canadiens have let 13 points get away from them by allowing much weaker teams to beat them. Even if the Habs had won half of those games, they'd have a nice lead atop the Eastern Conference right now.

But the past is the past and all the Canadiens can do is start beating weaker teams regularly down the stretch. They'll have a chance to get started on that immediately. 

Montreal plays Buffalo on Feb. 3 After that, they have 12 more games in February, nine of which are against teams currently not in the playoffs. 

The Canadiens have a great chance to pick up valuable points this month, but it could be a long month if they continue to play down to the competition. They need to find a way to play better against inferior teams. 

All stats from NHL.com. 

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