Canadiens learning hard lessons under pressure of playoff race

MONTREAL, Que. — Josh Anderson barreled in on a second-period breakaway and landed one of five shots on net he’d register in Saturday’s game.

He’d finish with eight attempts and two hits and earn an ice bath after putting in the type of playoff-style effort the Canadiens would desperately need from all their players to avoid losing more ground in the Eastern Conference standings.

But they didn’t get that type of effort from enough of their players and lost 4-0 to the New Jersey Devils.

It’s not that the Canadiens didn’t try hard.

You don’t outshoot the Devils 34-22, outhit them 26-20, and outdraw them on the 35 of 59 faceoffs without trying hard.

It’s just that many of the Canadiens couldn’t seem to get as mentally and physically engaged in the game as Anderson did, and it served to continue highlighting their inexperience with playing under the type of pressure they’ve been under for the last three weeks.

Kirby Dach, 24, summed up the situation well after Saturday’s game: “As much as we’re growing up and maturing as a team, we still have a lot of learning to do.”

He is six years younger than Anderson, he’s been in the league for five fewer years and appeared in 323 fewer games, and he’s only beginning to grasp just how much a team and its players need to continuously raise the bar throughout a season to achieve that coveted consistency that leads to a playoff spot.

The only way to learn is to go through it, and the Canadiens have to be thankful they’re going through it right now — even if the lessons are landing harder than Mike Tyson haymakers.

They could’ve been a year away from even facing those blows after a 5-10-2 start to the season landed them in the NHL’s basement halfway through November. But the lessons the Canadiens took from re-establishing themselves in the playoff race with a 19-10-2 run from that point through Jan. 22 brought them through a critical development stage and set up the one they’re currently in — and they’d take that over the alternative they were facing.

Now, the goal is to progress… Quickly… After a seventh loss in eight games and with teams pulling further and further away in the race.

He said the Canadiens have been fixated on the standings ever since playing themselves into relevance, and he talked about what they need to do to avoid slipping back into irrelevance.

“You’ve gotta buy in to what we’re trying to develop as a team and what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said. “Not a lot of guys have been in this situation before in being so close standings-wise and having that opportunity, but you’ve gotta realize as a player you don’t get these opportunities very much so you’ve gotta take advantage of them and know where we’re at as a team and just keep working to get to our goal.”

It can’t just be some players doing it, it must be everyone. And the objective isn’t for the Canadiens to just get back to the standard they set over their most successful run, it’s for them to aim higher than the standard they set over their most successful run.

“As you go through the season, as you get to this stage of the season, I think every team elevates their play, and we have to do the same thing,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. “What might have worked in November, December might not be necessarily the case in February, March.”

A lot of what worked in November and December was applied in Saturday’s game but didn’t generate a much-needed win for the Canadiens.

Were they squeezing their sticks too tight after an offensive cold spell through California over the last week? Certainly.

Confidence has been down since the Minnesota Wild shut the Canadiens out in their last home game before Saturday’s, and it wasn’t redeemed on premium scoring chances against the Devils.

But there’s more to it than that.

“I just think we’re not on top as much and maybe giving too many things away and not as sharp in our details,” said Dach. “I think we need to find a way to get back to it.”

Following Anderson’s lead is the way. There’s a desperation in his game the Canadiens must incorporate in their collective game on Sunday when they face the Tampa Bay Lightning, and then they’ll have 27 games remaining after the 4 Nations Face-Off to prove they can get through this stage.

“Can we get over that hump of competing in those pressure moments and turning these into wins?” St. Louis asked. “We’ll find out.”

It takes the type of effort that sends you rushing to the ice bath, and the Canadiens desperately need that right now, as they sit six points out of a playoff spot and nine points out of third place in the Atlantic Division.