Hidden Game: Canadiens fall behind early, get pummelled by Rangers

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We dedicate this edition of the Hidden Game to Mario Tremblay.

Tremblay was one of 15 former Canadiens players honoured Tuesday night in a pre-game ceremony — all members of the team that won four consecutive Stanley Cups between 1976 and 1979.

But in a surreal scenario, we saw Tremblay standing on St-Antoine St. at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. He was wearing his white Canadiens sweater and looking east, clearly awaiting the arrival of someone — perhaps a former teammate. What struck us as unusual: there wasn’t a soul around Tremblay, a former Canadiens head coach (albeit not a great one) and an RDS commentator.

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Not an autograph seeker or old-time Canadiens fan. Nobody. We can’t imagine another former Canadiens head coach who would be so totally oblivious in public. OK, maybe Dominique Ducharme.

Milestone: New York defenceman K’Andre Miller played his career 300th game Tuesday.

News you need (Part I): The Rangers have now set a franchise record for the longest points streak to begin a season. They also established a team record for the longest road winning streak to launch a season. They’ve also scored at least four goals in six successive games. New York, which reached the Eastern Conference final last season, improved to 5-0-1.

News you need (Part II): Although held to only one assist by the Canadiens, Artemi Panarin has recorded at least one point in six consecutive games. He leads the Rangers with six goals and 13 points after producing a career-high 49 goals and 71 assists last season.

They’ve got Montreal’s number: The Rangers are now 4-0-1 in their last five against the Canadiens. Going back to February 2020, New York holds an 8-2-1 advantage.

How not to start a game (Part I): The Canadiens looked both bewildered and mesmerized on this night, clearly no match for the high-flying New Yorkers, who throw the puck around like the Soviet national team, circa 1972. The visitors required only 54 seconds and one shot to open the scoring, the goal coming from Mika Zibanejad following a three-way play.

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How not to play defence (Part I): We’re guessing Logan Mailloux was expecting an icing call on the Rangers’ second goal. He was lackadaisical retrieving the puck and was beaten to it by Adam Edstrom, who fed Jonny Brodzinski in front. It was New York’s third shot, 125 seconds into the game.

How not to play defence (Part II): Lane Hutson‘s turnover led to the Rangers’ third goal. Reilly Smith skated in alone and beat Samuel Montembeault low to the glove side at 6:40 of the first period. It was New York’s seventh shot.

The goals keep on coming: Filip Chytil got behind defenceman Justin Barron, making it 4-0 for the visitors at 11:05 of the opening period. After allowing four goals on 10 shots, the beleaguered Montembault was replaced by Cayden Primeau. The goals were hardly his fault, but this way he retains his sanity.

Random thought of the night: We’re wondering why Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis didn’t call a time-out to try and settle his team after the third goal. Or fourth.

Pass of the night: Josh Anderson, from behind the net, to Nick Suzuki. The Canadiens captain scored Montreal’s first goal, providing the team with a brief hope, at 12:52 of the opening frame.

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Do it yourself: Suzuki did his best to carry the Canadiens on his shoulders. His pretty solo effort, on the power play slightly more than five minutes into the second period, brought Montreal to within two.

How not to play defence (Part III): New York defenceman Ryan Lindgren, making his season debut, didn’t look good trying to check Suzuki.

Good things happen when you go to the net: Brendan Gallagher — who else — drew a hooking penalty against defenceman Adam Fox, five minutes into the second period.

Hit of the night, and maybe the season: We’ll be surprised if Barron didn’t suffer a concussion in the third period. Rangers captain Jacob Trouba caught him with his head down, delivering a clean shoulder hit that left Barron crumpled on the ice and requiring assistance. Mike Matheson came to Barron’s defence and fought Trouba, getting an instigator penalty in the process.

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News you need (Part III): The Canadiens, having already allowed six goals to both Boston and Pittsburgh, have now set the bar just a bit higher. Surprisingly, the 45 shots allowed were eclipsed by the 48 Montreal surrendered on opening night against Toronto. For anyone keeping score at home, the Canadiens have now gone four games without a win and have only one victory in their last six. It already feels like a long season.

News you need (Part IV): The Canadiens have been outshot in all but one of their seven games.

It’s a crowded leaderboard: For the second time this season, Hutson was minus-4. But he doesn’t have much breathing room. Mailloux, Christian Dvorak, Emil Heineman and Michael Pezzetta were all minus-3.

Quick stats: Montembeault’s save percentage on this night was .600. Primeau, despite allowing three goals, came in at a healthy .914.

They said it: “It’s hard to win a game when you give up a field goal before the first TV timeout,” St. Louis said.

“We have high expectations for ourselves and we can’t drop those expectations,” Suzuki said. “It’s definitely a low point in the season for us right now and we have to pick ourselves back up.”

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“It was a frustrating night,” Gallagher said. “Obviously we feel the score doesn’t totally reflect the game. At the same time we have to stop beating ourselves. That’s part of maturing as a group. It wasn’t like we didn’t have legs, we didn’t have energy. Pucks just found a way to get in the back of our net. We made some mistakes. They made us pay.”

“We didn’t play up to the standard of our team,” David Savard said.

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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