Walt and I [and Ed.! Ed.] told you so.See "If Canadiens lose to Lightning, this will be the reason", "Playoff recap: Montréal Canadiens vs Ottawa Senators", and "Re-re-evaluating P.K. Subban".
Not that there's a dearth of blame to go around. With the exception of Carey Price -- he did what he could but, alas, can't score goals -- the Montréal Canadiens looked terrible last night against Tampa Bay, ending the Habs' playoff run not with a bang but a pathetic whimper.
With the exception of game 4, when Lightning goalie Ben Bishop was chased from his net, the Habs just couldn't score. Max Pacioretty had the most shots last night, and got a mulligan much too late in the game. Brendan Gallagher tried hard throughout. Everyone else pretty much stood and watched, waiting for Montréal's most offensive defenceman to put a blistering slapshot past the opposing goalie's ear, which he did... once in twelve games.
Last night, the Habs had two alleged power plays, the second more pathetic than the first. P.K. Subban -- for that's who I'm referring too -- gave another dazzling display of puck-hogging. Pass? What's that? Unless, of course, you count the half-dozen "alley-oop" shots up the middle, all of which were picked off by Tampa, who are onto that trick.
Last night, too, Pernell Karl took yet another dumb penalty -- delay of game -- late in the first period, when Montréal was down only 1-0 and looked on the verge of a comeback. He was also on the ice for two of Tampa's four goals.
The Montreal Gazette's Dave Stubbs would say that the reason his "transcendant" defenceman is on the ice for so many goals is because he leads the team in minutes played. I say that's because Michel Thérrien is under instructions that Subban is the team's marquee player and can't be made to ride the pines even when leaving him out there -- for the full two minutes of a power play, for example -- is risky.
Mon cher Marc... it's high time you and Thérrien and J-J Daigneault and the rest of the Habs' management had a frank conversation about P.K. Subban. He's getting C$9 million a year. Is he earning his keep? I say no. Is he an asset to the team? I say no, he's a net liability. [Geddit? Ed.] It's time to think the unthinkable and start talking about moving him.
