Canadiens' accurate self-assessment following loss to Canucks shows progress

MONTREAL — It was a loss, and a frustrating one for the Montreal Canadiens.

But it was clear in the aftermath of this 5-2 letdown to a rolling Vancouver Canucks team, which came after a galvanizing 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins Saturday, that the Canadiens have learned a critical lesson that should serve them well moving forward. 

It’s about self-assessment, and the Canadiens are getting better at it. 

Doing it accurately, as Jake Allen said after Sunday’s game, is about having realistic expectations to begin with and then finding the appropriate level of introspection to identify if those expectations were met. 

That, as Mike Matheson said, can be exceptionally challenging to do when results don’t match the process.

But Matheson wasn’t the only one who successfully had this game in proper perspective right after it ended, and that’s a healthy thing for the Canadiens to take moving forward.

He scored a key goal to get his team back in Sunday’s game, led in time on ice with 23:21, and he had the puck on his stick for a lot but only gave it up once (according to the NHL’s sheet).

But Matheson also missed his coverage on the back-breaking goal Dakota Joshua scored to make it 3-0 Canucks with 2:03 remaining in the second period, and he didn’t feel he played to his own high standards, and he made that clear in his post-game comments.

“I think our execution wasn’t there, and it starts with me personally,” the 29-year-old defenceman said. “I’m definitely someone who looks inward before looking anywhere else, and that’s where I’m looking right now.”

Matheson’s results were just fine. The minus-3 on his sheet could even be chalked up to being on for two empty-net goals against while the Canadiens were pressing to tie the game — neither of which would be hung on him. 

But there was something healthy about him not getting wrapped up in the results knowing his process had too many holes in it. 

Zooming out, Matheson has four goals and 12 points in 15 games this season, but he’d give some of those back to be playing as consistently well as he expects to as the Canadiens’ top defencemen.

“Mentally, think of what the rewards are and don’t look for points to be your reward,” Matheson said. “Your reward is playing a good game, going home and knowing you ticked off the boxes that you wanted to tick off and knowing that if you’re building that base, the points come.”

Somehow, 19-year-old Juraj Slafkovsky’s doing that. 

The six-foot-three winger, who was chosen first overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, may be stuck on one goal and one assist through the first 15 games of the season, but he’s playing inspired hockey right now and knows it. Sure, Slafkovksy has gone through ups and downs, but after his biggest down came just over a week ago, he’s bounced back higher than he’s reached at any point since he started in this league over 13 months ago.

Slafkovsky had a career-high seven shots on net against the Canucks. He had 11 attempts, he was all over the ice, he was creating chances for his linemates and himself and playing a game that should’ve been rewarded with something other than a minus-2 rating.

But his morale was where it should be after a performance like that, and that’s a big positive.

“It’s just a matter of time before it goes in,” Slafkovsky said. “I’ll just keep pushing and pushing, and it’s going to go in.”

Josh Anderson wasn’t in the Canadiens’ room after this game — in which he recorded an assist, six shots and 10 attempts — but one can only hope he’s putting his own performance in proper perspective.

That has to be as hard as can be for Anderson, who scored 21 goals in 69 games last season, but is still searching for his first one this season. It can’t help knowing he’s consistently been around 20 a year since his first full season in the league in 2016, that he’s topped out at 27 goals over 82 games of the 2018-19 season, and that he should have many more than one so far this season.

Especially since the 29-year-old’s process has been so good of late.

“Andy’s probably been playing some of the best hockey for our team for I don’t know how many games,” said Allen. “He’s just had some tough luck. I’ve never been in a skater’s skates, but as a goalie, you get in the net feeling great and every puck is bouncing in off something over a five-game stretch; you’re sticking to your process and it’s just not going your way. I think Andy’s old enough to understand he’s playing really good hockey. He’s creating a lot of things for us—last night the OT goal and tonight on the PP. It’s going to break.”

It didn’t break him or the Canadiens against the Canucks on Sunday.

But the way they assessed it — both as individuals, and as a group — is a step towards becoming a more mature team.

Scoring chances in all situations were 35-34 Canucks, according to NaturalStatTrick.com, and the difference was the winning team was more opportunistic than the losing one. And while the Canadiens may not have played at the same level they were at against the Bruins on Saturday, they still played at a high enough one to give themselves a chance to win the game.

Martin St. Louis summarized how the players we spoke to felt about it, and all of them clearly saw it in proper context.

“For sure, the emotion wasn’t the same (as against the Bruins), but I liked our team,” the Canadiens’ coach said. “It’s three games in a row against good teams (Vancouver, Boston and Detroit), and we were there. We lost on the scoresheet, but this game could’ve gone either way. It was pretty even. 

“In the first, we lacked execution, and in the second we didn’t capitalize on our chances, but I was happy with the game we played against a good team again.”

Aside from Matheson, and a few others who may not have been enamoured with the way they played, most the Canadiens felt that way.

Even Slafkovsky, who was heading home to 10 family members and friends who are visiting from Slovakia, wasn't feeling as though he wasn’t good enough. 

“I liked my game,” he said.

So did St. Louis.

“It’s a game that shows he looks more comfortable on the ice with his reading of the play,” he said. “And when you play like that, usually the puck goes in for you.”

St. Louis doesn’t sense Anderson is down on himself, either. And he’s helping him keep things in perspective.

“Humour usually works,” St. Louis said. “We do serious work, but I don’t think you need to take yourself seriously. I think he’s putting all the work into it right now, and sometimes life’s hard. Sometimes you do everything right… it doesn’t mean you’re going to win. Right now, Josh is doing a lot of good things, but he’s just not winning... And sometimes you almost have to laugh at it a little bit and just keep going at it.”

That’s a good way to go about it, and it seems as though the Canadiens are learning how to go about things the right way more consistently.

Not too long ago, they were in a different place, allowing some good results to camouflage issues in their play that ended up biting them last week in four consecutive losses.

But adjustments have been made, and that’ll help as they move forward.