Carey Price says booing of habs by fans warranted
MONTREAL - Carey Price says a little adversity is good.
But the Canadiens have had more than their share of adversity in the past week, losing three games by an aggregate score of 11-0.
The Washington Capitals beat the Canadiens 2-0 Saturday night and Michael Cammalleri put the Canadiens’ scoring woes in simple terms when he said: “I don’t think we’re playing very good.”
Cammalleri said there was a problem with “the discipline throughout the team and discipline can mean a lot of different things. It starts with taking penalties. It’s a tough way to play when you start all these games taxing ourselves playing shorthanded.”
That was the case Saturday night as the Canadiens took the first four penalties, including three in the first period when they were outshot 12-3.
But Cammalleri said discipline goes beyond penalties.
“It’s the way we’re playing game, the execution. I think your most sound game is to play defensively to create chances offensively. The obvious thing is that a lot of us aren’t producing what we should.
"Our passing seems to be off,” Cammalleri added. “We’re not making many clean tape-to-tape passes. It’s amazing when you break it down to things you might talk about with 10-year-old kids, but if you make a tape-to-tape pass coming out of your end, you’re probably getting through the zone. We seem to be hitting a lot of skates and hitting guys in the back.”
Even so, Cammalleri said the Canadiens were in the game until Alexander Semin scored on a 2-on-0 breakaway late in the third period.
“The first period was tough with all the penalties but, after that, we had some shifts where we had sustained pressure. Until that 2-on-0, we still thought we could get one.”
The crowd showed its displeasure on several occasions and reserved its loudest boos for Scott Gomez, who was on for the second goal and is now minus-16. The next worst record on the team belongs to P.K. Subban at minus-6.
But when Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin was asked whether it might be time to cut back on Gomez’s ice time, he said the veteran “knows he has to play better, but he’s one of several players who needs to pick it up.”
Martin said the Canadiens have to play better in a number of areas, most notably getting traffic in front of the net.
“We can’t give the goalie a clear look at the puck and we have to get more second chances,” he said.
Price said the crowd reaction was warranted and added: “Nobody’s having much fun lately.”
But Price said he still feels the Canadiens can turn things around.
“We’re still a good hockey team,” he said. “As long as we’re in the playoffs and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup, that’s what matters. Those teams (behind us) are coming up, but we can’t get scared and start gripping our sticks even more because that doesn’t help. We’re a pretty confident group.”
When Price was asked if there was any fear the Canadiens could miss the playoffs, he replied: “We’re still in a position where our fate’s in our own hands.”
Ninth-place Carolina still has a chance to overhaul the Canadiens, but Montreal can end the Hurricanes’ hopes with a win Wednesday in Raleigh.
