Canes demolished by Habs; outlook bleak

On Saturday night, the Canes got off to an early start, scoring on their very first shot against Cristobal Huet and the Canadiens. Unfortunately, that would be the best the Canes could muster in a 6-1 loss to the visitors.

All over the ice, they looked bad. Bad passing, bad defensive adjustments, bad line changes. Somehow they managed to unleash 35 shots against the Frenchman in the first two periods, but only one of them was worth a crap.

Meanwhile, the Habs played a very solid game. They didn't make many mistakes, they capitalized on Canes miscues, and they were extremely efficient. They only took 21 shots, but that was still 19 more than was necessary to beat the downtrodden Canes.

It's easy to blame Martin Gerber. He looked bad on at least two of those. The shooter had a clear lane from well out, with no traffic. That should be an easy stop, but not on Saturday. Sure, a couple of times he was hung out to dry by sloppy defensive play or by neutral zone turnovers, but the bottom line is that he let 6 out of 21 shots get through. His save % for the 2006 postseason is a horrifying .714.

On Monday, I expect Gerber to be benched/rested in favor of Cam Ward. I don't think he could possibly fare any worse.

If Montréal continues to play with the kind of focus they had on Saturday, and if Carolina continues to play with the lack of same, this series will be swept by Montréal.

That would be completely unacceptable.