The Daily Habit: Were the Habs Unlucky in the Playoffs Last Year?

Did Montreal deserve a better fate than losing 5 to the Capitals last year?

Image by NHL.com

The Montreal Canadiens barely scraped into the playoffs last year, doing so on the last day of the season. Their reward was getting to play the Eastern Conference's best team during the regular season, that being the Washington Capitals.

The Caps disposed of them in 5 games, moving on to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. They were then disposed of by the Canes, similarly losing in 5 games as well.

However, did Montreal deserve better than only winning 1 game? I will go over every loss that occurred, seeing if they deserved a win or at least had a chance of winning.

Game 1: 3-2 OT Loss

They weren't at their best for the first two periods...

However.... they dominated the third period. They spent the whole period in Washington's end, and ended up tying the game 2-2 with goals from Caufield and Suzuki. The Caps are lucky the third ended; they would've given up the lead had there been five extra minutes. The game went to OT.

Ovechkin scored early in overtime to give Washington the win.

Montreal certainly could've won this game; they were one shot away. The way they dominated the third period meant they could've scored 4 or 5 goals in the frame. The first two periods weren't great, though.

Game 2: 3-1 Loss

The first two periods were pretty evenly played, with the Caps taking a 2-1 lead after the second intermission. Montreal had an unlucky bounce go against them for the first goal against.

Again, they dominated the third period. They outshot them 14-5, but Logan Thompson stood on his head and kept the puck out for the whole period. They hemmed them in their zone, but couldn't capitalise. The Capitals added an empty net, sealing the win 3-1 for Washington.

The game should've at least been tied. It's unfortunate with how well the Canadiens played their third periods that they were down 2-0 in the series. They should've at least won one of the games.

Game 3: 6-3 Win

No complaints here. The only win of the series they managed to obtained.

Game 4: 5-2 Loss

Probably their worst game of the series. They most likely were not as confident with Dobes in the net, and it showed.

They were outplayed through two periods... but led 2-1 after the second intermission. This is because of their strong penalty kill and their two power plays from Slavkovsky and Caufield.

But the third period fell apart. Immediately after a huge hit by Tom Wilson, the Caps scored on a lucky bounce. They continued outplaying Montreal until they scored with just under five minutes to go. They added two empty netters to make a 5-2 final.

Washington deserved this win, they were the better team, That being said.... the win was in grasp.

Game 5:

Montreal were the better team through the first ten minutes, but again couldn't beat Logan Thompson. The Caps scored shortly after to take a 1-0 lead.

Eventually, Washington went on to take a 3-0 lead and eventually a 4-1 lead.

If they scored early on, then perhaps the outcome would've been different. But alas, they did not.

Series over.

Verdict:

Montreal deserved at least 2 wins. They should've won one of the first two games in Washington, but they got some unlucky bounces, and Thompson was superb.

They deservingly won Game 3.

Games 4 and 5 weren't their finest, but they had a shot, especially in Game 4.

I don't think a 4-1 series loss is indicative of how the Habs played. It deserved to at least be 4-2, and perhaps could've even been pushed to Game seven. I do still think that the Caps were the better team and deserved to win, but not in 5 games. You have to give props to Logan Thompson, he was outstanding.

Article by Jacksen MacLean.