After mid-season success, the Canadiens are slipping again

After a stretch that saw the Montreal Canadiens win 13 of 17 games, putting them in a playoff spot for the first time in years, the team has lost five straight and now find themselves on the outside looking in with a 24-23-5 record and 53 points, six points back of a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the Canadiens’ recent struggles and what fans should expect going forward.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s play the “Overreaction Game,” we’ll start with the Montreal Canadiens. They’ve lost five in a row, Patrik Laine is getting benched in the third period, and since the start of January, they’re averaging 3.6 goals against per game, and they’re starting to slip in that Eastern Conference playoff picture.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “no shot, they’re screwed,” and 1 being “calm down, they’re still in the hunt,” where do you come out?

Frank Seravalli: I’d say it’s an 8. I think it’s one year too premature to be in the playoff conversation. I think they found a stretch of time where things really worked, and they’ve also gotten unlucky. Emil Heineman goes out with an injury, and that third line with Jake Evans and Joel Armia was cooking. And Kaiden Guhle, I mean, just terrible luck that he’s had this year.

This roster is not stout enough to withstand losses like that when they pile up. They’ve obviously had a magical run with Jakub Dobes in net. But it was too soon. An admirable run, and I think this team needed to play some memorable games at this point of the year, but moving forward, I think the big thing that Montreal fans wanted to know was: “Are there pieces here? Should we be believers in what’s being built?” And I think the answer to that is yes.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…