The Montreal Canadiens must learn from their overtime no-show

In sudden-death overtime, you’re only a shot away from winning the game, but only if you actually take it.

In overtime on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens did not record a single shot on goal. Even in their Game 6 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021, when they were outshot 13-1 before Jesperi Kotkaniemi’s game-winner, they had more shots than they did in the 12:48 of extra hockey in Game 2 of their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

There is no denying that Kirby Dach could have played both the dump-in that caused the icing and the coverage that led to the game-winning goal better. It may cost him his spot in the lineup. That doesn’t change the fact that the Canadiens were lucky just to be still playing up to that point.

I’m not sure if the Canadiens were actually playing scared in overtime, or not to lose, but they sure looked like it. Sure, to win the game you need to not allow a goal, but you also need to try to attack to get a goal. Some urgency is required. The good news is that the no-show in overtime doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. This series was never going to be a sweep. It’s a very competitive series, and both teams had their chances to be up 2-0. It is 1-1, and the Canadiens have a chance to take control of the series on home ice.

The team (and some fans) need to not dwell on the fact that they lost a potential 2-0 lead, to focus on what they have in front of them. Losses in the postseason are pretty much inevitable, it’s how you respond to them that matters. The Canadiens have been pretty good all year at avoiding stacking losses together.

On Friday, when they take to the ice at what is surely going to be a wild Bell Centre for Game 3, they need to get back to being the aggressor. Not necessarily physically (they did a good job at responding to that challenge) but during play. They did that so well for so much of the first two games, only to see it slip away late.

This is still anybody’s series. The Canadiens have to play like it is theirs.