The Top 5 New Year's Resolutions for the Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have back-to-back games left on the 2014 calendar before it flips to the new year. They'll play in Carolina on Monday and then in Florida the next night.
A lot has gone right for the Canadiens so far this season. Through 35 games, the Habs are a very respectable 22-11-2. Their 46 points puts them just two behind the Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning, and Montreal has two games in hand.
But the Canadiens aren't perfect. They're far from it. And there's a lot they can change to improve as a hockey team in 2015.
Here are the top five New Year's resolutions for the Montreal Canadiens.
Let Nathan Beaulieu Play
1 of 5
The big news out of the Canadiens' post-Christmas practices is that Nathan Beaulieu has been bumped into the top four alongside Sergei Gonchar, as Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette reports.
Beaulieu has certainly earned the promotion. He's looked much better since being brought back up to the Canadiens earlier this month. In five December games, he's played mistake-free hockey and is a plus-two with four shots on goal.
He's also improved each and every night, with his best game of the season coming against the New York Islanders on Dec. 23. That's the night he officially jumped ahead of Alexei Emelin on the depth chart, playing 17:40 over 23 shifts.
The 22-year-old is playing with a confidence we haven't yet seen. Now it's Michel Therrien's job not to ruin that.
Therrien needs to let Beaulieu play. The Canadiens need a guy with his skill set in the top four. The other options (Emelin, Tom Gilbert, Mike Weaver and Bryan Allen) just don't possess the upside that Beaulieu does.
Beaulieu will make a few mistakes. Every defenseman does. But Therrien needs to extend his leash a little and not bench him, or take him out of the lineup, when he does make a mistake.
Montreal will be a better team with a confident Beaulieu in the lineup. He deserves more ice time in 2015.
Score More Goals
2 of 5
The Canadiens don't score enough goals. To illustrate, let's look at the average goals per game of Eastern Conference playoff teams (as of Dec. 29):
| Team | Goals per game |
| Pittsburgh | 3.03 |
| Tampa Bay | 3.19 |
| NY Islanders | 2.91 |
| Detroit | 2.83 |
| Montreal | 2.60 |
| Toronto | 3.33 |
| NY Rangers | 2.97 |
| Washington | 2.89 |
As you can see, Montreal ranks far below any of the other Eastern Conference playoff teams in terms of offense. In fact, the Canadiens only rank 19th in the NHL in average goals for. Not good enough.
Of course, Montreal has Carey Price, and it allows only 2.37 goals per game. Only Detroit and Pittsburgh have better goals-against numbers when compared to the same teams above.
But only scoring 2.60 goals per game isn't going to be enough if the Canadiens hope to remain near the top of the standings. They need to improve on that number in the new year. If they don't, the losses will start to pile up.
Improve the Power Play
3 of 5
Montreal's power play ranks 23rd in the league at 15.3 percent. That's simply not good enough for a winning hockey team in the NHL.
At home, things aren't so bad. A couple of goals before the Christmas break bumped them up to 21.2 percent at the Bell Centre.
But on the road, it's ugly. Another 0-of-2 night on Long Island on Dec. 23 dropped the Canadiens' road power play to 8.7 percent. That ranks 27th overall, with only Minnesota, Buffalo and Edmonton below them.
And what do those teams have in common? They're all well out of a playoff spot, not challenging for the top spot in the conference like the Canadiens are.
The Canadiens need to find a way to get their power play on track—especially on the road, where they'll play their next four games. It could be a long road trip and a long second half of the season if they don't.
.png?w=256 "NHL Mock Draft")
.jpg?w=256 "Kucherov Landing Spots")
.png?w=256)
Get Carey Price Some Rest
4 of 5
Carey Price is an absolute workhorse. So far in 2014-15, he's tied for second in games played with 29, behind only Cory Schneider's 32. He has appeared in 83 percent of the team's games, putting him on pace for 68 starts.
Price's career high for starts is 72. Last season, he played in 59 games, plus 12 playoff starts and five in the Olympics. Big workloads are nothing new to him.
But in the last two seasons, Price has been getting hurt. His 2013 season ended with a groin injury in Game 4 of the playoffs. Last year, he missed eight games after the Olympics and then was knocked out of the playoffs yet again in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.
The Canadiens need Price to be, and stay, healthy throughout the entire season—including the playoffs, assuming they make it there. So maybe a little more rest would help? It certainly wouldn't hurt.
Price has started every game for the Habs in December. But with two back-to-backs this week, we'll likely see Dustin Tokarski at least once.
The Canadiens obviously love playing Price as much as possible. He is one of the top goaltenders in the world. But Michel Therrien has to remember that each of the last two seasons has ended with Price on the injured list. A little more rest in the new year might help avoid that.
Have Better Starts
5 of 5
Montreal's Dec. 23 game against the Islanders was a microcosm of its season so far.
The Habs started the game flat, got outshot 14-3 in the first period and were behind 1-0 at the intermission. Then they found their legs, played with passion, scored three goals and won the game.
The Canadiens have been great in the second and third periods this season. They've come from behind to win seven times when trailing after the first period, more times than any other team in the league.
But they just can't seem to get things going in the first. In fact, they've only had the lead after the first 20 minutes four times in 35 games. Only Edmonton is worse in that category.
So why can't the Habs consistently play well in the first period? It's a question that has probably been on the minds of Therrien and his coaching staff throughout the holiday break. Let's hope they found a solution.
The Canadiens cannot continue to have the poor starts they've been having in most games this season. Having better starts to games should be one of their top New Year's resolutions.
All stats from NHL.com.
Let's talk Habs hockey on Twitter: Follow @brandondubreuil
.png?w=480 "NHL Mock Draft")
.jpg?w=480 "Kucherov Landing Spots")
.png?w=480)
