Todd: Canadiens' resiliency on display in gutsy win at the Bell Centre

No hockey team, not even the legendary 1976-77 Canadiens, can win every game. When you think about it, the embarrassing 7-3 loss to the Maple Leafs Saturday night was not a complete surprise. After a prolonged stint on the road, home ice can be treacherous for any hockey team.

You’ve been out there battling, then you come home. There’s laundry to be done, bills to be paid, wives and kids and girlfriends wanting attention. People on the street telling you how great you are. You relax just a bit. You want to put on a show for the home crowd

Then you get a 3-0 lead over the Leafs, it feels like this is going to be an easy game, you decide it’s showtime — and boom! The next thing you know, you’re flat on your back staring up at a 7-3 loss on the scoreboard and wondering if anyone caught the licence plate of the truck that hit you.

After a five-week stretch when the Canadiens were all but unbeatable, they slipped on a banana peel. Somewhere between the first and second periods, their well-oiled Porsche became a rusty Ford Pinto and the wheels fell off.

As Brian Wilde pointed out for Global, the Canadiens don’t know how to play with a big lead because a few seasons have passed since they were in that situation often. This time, they fell apart. Next time, they won’t.

The key, though, was to bear down, put that game behind them and get back on track against a New York Rangers team that has struggled mightily at times this season but came into the game on a roll. It wasn’t easy but they did it, with Brendan Gallagher abruptly shedding a decade, Lane Hutson doing Hutson things, Alexandre Carrier quietly taking care of business, Jakub Dobes recovering from a somewhat jittery start in his first game at the Bell Centre and Patrik Laine completing as pretty an overtime passing play as you will see.

As of this writing, the Canadiens are a point behind the Blue Jackets and two points behind the Ottawa Senators in the battle for the Eastern Conference’s two wild-card spots. They’re 11-3-1 in their last 15 games. They have 10 crucial games before the two-week break for the Four Nations Cup and then they have time to rest and refocus.

Fans have good reason to be miffed that both Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield were snubbed by their national teams for what is really an insignificant tournament but what matters is that both are ready for the stretch run, because next time they get a three-goal lead on Toronto, they aren’t going to blow it.

The Boreen factor: If there was a flaw for the Montreal Victoire last year, it was that they relied too much on too few. By the time the playoffs began, coach Kori Cheverie shortened her bench to the point where the players she was using could have ridden to the rink in a VW Beetle.