On Thursday night, the Montreal Canadiens put together a fantastic three-period effort in a hard-fought loss to the San Jose Sharks. A few small errors, but nothing outwardly glaring against one of the NHL’s best teams. Playing the same way on Friday against the Anaheim Ducks should have led to a win.
Only they didn’t show up to play the same way, and looked like the team many people predicted they would be in the pre-season. Their play style seemed plodding and disjointed at the best of times, and posed no real threat to the Ducks for most of the night.