HockeyHabs’ season rests with the 20 guys in uniform

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From the moment we arrived at our hotel, we could sense the difference. The fans are disappointed, and the mood is much less jovial. There was hope that the team could overcome whatever ailed it at the end of the regular season, rise up and defeat the Boston Bruins. After all, the Bruins weren’t just battling the current Canadiens.

They were also battling the ghosts of Richard, Beliveau, Dryden and Lafleur.

Last stand?

That hope is all but extinguished. Game 3 is very much The Last Stand for Les Glorieux, because a 3-0 deficit is hopeless. But, where will the next level come from? Who is going to step up and save the Montreal Canadiens?

For almost 69 minutes, there was a lot to like. The Game 1 loss was at least a step in the right direction. (Key stat: After that 4-2 win, the Bruins had outscored Montreal just 15-13 in the first two periods during their meetings this year, but 9-1 in the third.) The Canadiens had the proper compete level, playing bigger than they did in weeks. You couldn’t help but think they had a shot, if they played seven games like that one.

Game 2 looked similar, until Sergei Kostitsyn took an awful hooking penalty at 8:45. Marc Savard opened the scoring and the rout was on. Sure, it was 2-1 early in the second, but you never had the feeling the Canadiens were on the same level. Seriously, how many of them did you notice for good things in Game 2?

Most telling was Bob Gainey’s response to a post-game question in French. (Gainey speaks it slowly enough for me to understand, but I asked a francophone reporter just to make sure.) Asked what – besides the penalty kill – the team could improve, he said, “Listen to the coach.”

He wasn’t joking.

Sunday, at practice, he mentioned that they needed to be better “between the ears.”

Running out of time, options

Gainey’s got to be frustrated because he’s running out of time and options. For Game 2, he benched Tomas Plekanec and Matt D’Agostini. Yannick Weber was overwhelmed (which happens), but Kostitsyn really let him down. He yanked Carey Price, and watched as the goaltender mocked a fan right in front of the coach.

What other surprise moves can he pull? Halak wouldn’t exactly be a stunner. Gregory Stewart? Ryan O’Byrne? The honest truth is that it’s out of his hands.

There’s a strange feeling in Montreal right now, with Gainey, one of the franchise’s great heroes, taking more criticism than ever before. Whatever you think of the job he’s done, you reach a point where it’s on the players. Since the All-Star Break, very few of them have played at their expected levels. They didn’t like their coach, and he was fired. They talk about stepping up, but haven’t. Too many times this season, there have been, in the words of one player, “Too many passengers.”

Milan Lucic is suspended. Despite the disappointment, you know the crowd will be wild. There can be no more excuses. No more talk.

This is no longer up to Gainey, or his assistants. It’s about the 20 guys in uniform. Only they can save the season.

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