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“If that isn’t the season in a nutshell, I don’t know what is.”

Play-by-play announcer John Bartlett was describing Artturi Lehkonen missing a wide-open Columbus net a shade over a minute into the second period of the Canadiens’ latest embarrassing loss.

With all due respect to my fellow Pointe Claire resident, I think Bartlett’s assessment was a tad generous.

The Montreal Canadiens have not spent their season narrowly missing scoring opportunities.

Most of the time, through 69 games, the Canadiens have watched their opponents cash scoring chances which have been much more numerous and promising than anything the CH have managed to generate.

And please don’t cite the third period in Columbus – during which the Canadiens shot the home team 24-5 – as an example of how good this team should be.

The score through 40 was 4-1, and the game was effectively over. That’s when the Canadiens fund their legs … but, of course, not their scoring touch, which has been MIA since the season began.