The Montreal Canadiens will find out tonight if they’re going to play against the Tampa Bay Lightning or Detroit Red Wings in the second round, but regardless of who their opponent is, they’ll likely need to do better with the man advantage.
Montreal had 20 power-play opportunities in its six-game series against Ottawa and found the back of the net just one time. Power-play woes are nothing new for the Canadiens, but just because it’s been a weakness for a while doesn’t change the fact that it needs to be addressed. That’s far easier said than done though.
“You want to get better and we’ll try to get better, but I don’t have a magic wand to say this is why it’s not working,” Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin told the Lethbridge Herald.
As for the team’s offense as a whole, Bergevin doesn’t see it as a glaring issue. The Canadiens have a defense-first mentality and Bergevin believes the team can go far as long as that defense remains strong.
That defense will be tested in the next round as Detroit finished 10th in scoring during the regular season with 2.82 goals per game while Tampa Bay led the pack with an average of 3.16.