A tough night under the lights

OTTAWA - It isn't easy to generate much of anything offensively when puck possession is at a premium. That was certainly the case for the Canadiens on Saturday night.

Claude Julien's squad won just 19 of 65 draws - operating at a 29 percent clip in the faceoff circle - and it proved costly in a 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators in the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic at Lansdowne Park.
After being blanked for the fifth time so far this season, Julien didn't mince words when it came to analyzing where things went wrong outdoors in the nation's capital.
"When you spend the night running after the puck instead of controlling it, it makes a big difference," said Julien, who was at the helm for his fourth career outdoor matchup. "When it came to faceoffs, it wasn't even close. We were chasing the puck from the start, so it's one of the aspects that hurt us a lot."

Paul Byron was also quick to identify the Canadiens' lack of success in that particular department as a primary reason why things when sour in the first of seven straight games away from the friendly confines of the Bell Centre.
"When you start with possession all the time, it helps. Having the puck, it's something we tried to address. Our centers want to win faceoffs and our wingers want to help them out, but it was just one of those nights where we just couldn't get the puck back to our guys and try and create off that," noted Byron, who was playing in front of family and friends aplenty in his hometown. "When you're forechecking the whole time, it's tough to have the energy to get the puck back and go down and create offense."
Hence, the Canadiens' inability to ultimately find a way to solve Senators starter Craig Anderson, who turned aside all 28 shots he faced to help Ottawa win its second straight game.
"It's obvious that we didn't create enough scoring chances. Games like these, with these types of conditions, you have to have a blue-collar attitude and we didn't have enough of a blue-collar attitude. We spent the majority of the game working from the outside," mentioned Julien. "We didn't manage to get in between the dots to create anything."

Given the magnitude of the occasion, Byron was at somewhat of a loss to explain exactly why the Canadiens weren't able to deliver the type of performance they needed to begin an extended road swing.
"I don't know why, but we weren't at our best. I think everybody wanted to play better. It wasn't our night. Everyone here is capable of giving more," said Byron, one of five Habs who failed to generate a shot on goal in the loss - along with Nicolas Deslauriers, Phillip Danault, Alex Galchenyuk and Jakub Jerabek. "We know we have to put in more work to go into the dangerous areas to create more chances."
For his part, Carey Price was stellar in between the pipes making 35 saves and keeping the Canadiens in the game until Bobby Ryan put the Senators ahead by two goals with just 2:58 remaining in regulation time.
But, Price's heroics simply weren't enough to best Guy Boucher's contingent on their home turf.
"It was a huge game for us and we definitely wanted to win," insisted Byron. "I know that everybody is disappointed with the result and we have to work a lot harder to win the next one."
That will come on Tuesday night when the Canadiens square off against the Canucks in Vancouver.