The puzzle is still missing some (key) pieces

The Canadiens looked like a team playing their third game in four night this afternoon in St.Louis: slow, poor puck management, little in the way of physicality or intense forecheck.

But unlike what we have seen on so many occasions this season, they failed to mount another epic comeback. And reality is likely to start biting them in the ass, with a very tough month of January ahead.

Truth be told, this team has absolutely no depth.

Yes, even with Guehle or Dach in the lineup this team is a shallow as a wading pool. And, for the love of God, can we stop bringing up Patrick Laine when using injuries as an excuse for our wild inconsistencies- both in-game and game-to-game? He was barely playing when healthy!

The vast majority of our wins have come from the Fab 5 up front (don't think I need to name them), and the stellar play of our Big 3 on D (again, you know who they are). This simply is unsustainable in the long run.

The rest of this squad have more to give? As some as my Italian friends like to say "ma, please". Or as I like to say, what you see is all you're gonna get. This Tuscan lemon can't be squeezed much more. Our third and fourth lines are SIMPLY INEPT; generating little offense, and clearly lack a tangible identity (case in point look at a team like Boston with players like Jeannot and Kastelic - perhaps not elite talent wise, but you know exactly what their identity is). Our bottom 3 D have also struggled, mightily, including last year's pleasant surprise (Alex Carrier), who, this year, well, looks more like a peasant surprise.

The team also lacks emotions at times, both on the ice, and behind the bench. They seem to embody the same demeanor as their coach, notably when games are not going in their favor. Maybe I'm old school. But I'd love to see a player on this team show leadership in moments when a game is either escaping us or when we look as dormant as a hibernating bear. A hard hit, some yelling on the bench, smacking a stick, heck the occasional fight! (or perhaps it could come from the coach...not the fighting obviously)

So depth, grit, physicality, remain a concern. Goaltending has been more porous than a spaghetti strainer (who'd have thought it could turn out to be this abysmal).

Kent, please tell us you aren't done rejigging, tweaking, adding, filling out the pieces of this giant jigsaw puzzle. Because I firmly believe that if these glaring issues are NOT addressed by the trade deadline, the Canadiens groundhog may again not see his shadow this year, and we could well be headed for another.... early spring!