Canadiens set record for fewest shots per 60 minutes in three-game span
The Montreal Canadiens haven’t had much go their way in the first four games of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, struggling to create chances in each showing.
In Game 1, as the Hurricanes came off a 12-day rest from the second round, the Canadiens scrounged up enough offensive opportunity to secure a 6-2 win on 22 shots. In the following games, however, things have gotten significantly more difficult, dropping Games 2, 3 and 4, with Game 2 featuring 12 shots and Game 3 just 13, with Game 4 providing slight improvement at 18, without beating Hurricanes netminder Frederik Andersen.
With those numbers, the Canadiens are making history — just not the type they wanted to be making this series. According to OPTA, the Canadiens had 43 shots on goal in 197:35 of game time over the last 3 games, an average of 13.1 shots per 60 minutes, making it the lowest shots per 60 by an NHL team over a three-game span since the league began tracking shot numbers in the 1955-56 season.
In Game 4, Canadiens fans chanted “shoot the puck” after the Canadiens had sat on 15 shots in the third period.
“I feel like we had players with the most space with the puck, and we don’t skate enough, we pass it to a player with no space,” said St. Louis after Game 4. “So, you kind of play into their pressure, and it’s a little bit of that.
“It’s just recognizing that, (with) the way they play, the guy with the most ice in space should take the ice, and we’re not playing fast enough when we have the puck with our feet. We’re not playing fast enough off the puck so we can kind of bypass the pressure, and they’ve got really, really good sticks.”
Not all is lost, however. The Canadiens will have at least one opportunity to stave off elimination, as they head back to the Lenovo Center in Raleigh on Friday night, where they were able to secure the first win of the series. At the same time, being away from the spotlight of Montreal home games could have indirect benefits.
Should the Canadiens pick up a win in Game 5, they would bring the series back to the Bell Centre on Sunday, with a chance to force a decisive Game 7, which would take place back in Raleigh on June 2.