Tampa Bay Lightning's Vladislav Namestnikov scores past Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price during second period NHL hockey action Monday, March 30, 2015 in Montreal.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press
Amid the frustration of defeat, defiance.
The last time the Montreal Canadiens were swept in a season series that went five or more games was 1983-84, when the Buffalo Sabres ran the table 8-0.
Habs forward Max Pacioretty wouldn't be born until four years later, so it's understandable that he might lack that bit of historical perspective after the Tampa Bay Lightning turned the trick on Monday.
Yes, the Lightning won 5-3 to make it five straight over Montreal this year. Yes, they have out-shot the Habs 191-120 over that span. Yes, they won this game without four regulars – including their injured second defensive pair – and without stud blue liner Victor Hedman in the third period (he played just one shift after an awkward collision in the corner with Brandon Prust).
No, the Habs aren't worried.
"In my mind, there's no need to be concerned, the playoffs are a different animal," said Pacioretty, who scored his 37 of the year in the second period to answer Vladislav Namestnikov's breakaway opener.
The goal announcement wasn't even over that Jonathan Drouin had put Tampa noses back out in front with a slick deke and shot on Carey Price, whose franchise record-tying 42 win will have to wait.
From there, the game belonged to the Lightning, who staved off a third-period rally that featured goals from defencemen Jeff Petry and P.K. Subban.
Alex Galchenyuk rang a shot off the cross-bar with the Montreal net empty, but Anton Stralman's long shot ended Hab hopes with just under a minute to play.
Asked afterward why it is the Habs look so uncomfortable against Tampa, Pacioretty bristled.
"I really hope we play them in the playoffs, because we have a lot to prove against that team . . . they play very similar to us, it's not a matter feeling uncomfortable, you saw what we had in the third," he said.
Self-doubt is an indulgence that pro athletes can ill afford, so perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise that the Habs weren't much given to introspection or careful analysis of their tactical shortcomings against the Bolts (and after five straight defeats that all looked more or less the same, there are deficiencies in the approach.)
Better to blame it on poor discipline, such as the five straight power-plays they gifted the Lightning – including an egregiously ill-advised double-minor to Dale Weise, who jawed at officials after they whistled him for lightly swiping Tampa netminder Ben Bishop in the chest with his stick.
"I can't be doing that," a disconsolate Weise said afterward. "I just have to keep my mouth shut and go to the penalty box . . . it's a dumb play on my part, it shouldn't happen."
The Lightning punched their playoff ticket with the victory, though they remain a point back of Montreal in the standings, it's hard on the evidence of Monday's performance to argue they aren't the better team.
That said, the Habs officially clinched last week and have been in waiting-for-the-postseason mode for much of March.
"There's anticipation obviously, everyone just wants to get into the playoffs. But we have to focus on the last couple of games and try to play the right way," Weise said. "I wouldn't chalk that one up tonight as trying to play the right way."
Quite so. Teams firing on all cylinders aren't generally booed off their home ice at the second intermission after being out-shot 31-13 through 40 minutes.
The Habs have been a below-average possession team for much of the past 18 months and have routinely been dominated in the shooting statistics, although their problems in that regard have been camouflaged by the other-worldly play of goaltender Carey Price.
Some stat-heads posit that the Habs' chief weakness is zone exits (they also have a long-standing issue with zone entries).
It's true they seemed to have an awful time getting past Tampa's forecheck and the defencemen who were taking away the play up the boards.
But to coach Michel Therrien – and, in fairness to his players – the issue isn't the system or the principles behind it (principle the first: defence). It's the way it's implemented.
In other words, it's down to effort and the ever-popular "execution".
"We just weren't alert tonight," he said.
In his earlier incarnations as bench boss, Therrien showed a propensity for well-timed eruptions.
After this one there was no tirade, just terseness (the last five questions of his post-game news conference were answered in 39 words, according to La Presse writer Guillaume Lefrancois, who scrupulously counted them.)
So are we witnessing statistical regression at work when the Habs lose badly to top clubs like Tampa, Anaheim, Los Angeles?
Possibly.
Or perhaps it's just that those teams are faster, savvier, more skilled and (maybe, just maybe) better-coached.
Not that you'll catch anyone in the Habs room voicing anything approaching that sentiment. They remain in first, after all, and within striking distance of the President's Trophy.
"I think we're more than capable of handling this team," Weise said.
The playoffs will provide a definitive answer.