Therrien's biting criticism of Subban the sign of a defeated coach

P.K. Subban wasn't great Wednesday night. In fact, he hasn't been all that, all season long.

Yeah, he leads the Montreal Canadiens in scoring, ranking fourth among defensemen league-wide, but what's relative does not apply to those earning $72 million across eight seasons. Being held at a higher standard is found in his contract, somewhere in the fine print.

So when things head south, when a promising season is deep-sixed despite whatever dearth of talent surrounds the player, they'll be criticized, nitpicked, and caviled. And to a certain extent, rightfully so.

It will come in many forms and from every angle in a market like Montreal, but it shouldn't be fed into a reporter's mic from the head coach's mouth.

Michel Therrien spun the chamber after a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, Montreal's 24th over the last 32 games. He called out his superstar without calling Subban by name after a turnover in a hazardous area in the offensive zone led to Jarome Iginla's eventual game-winner.

"We played hard, played a solid game, (it's) too bad an individual mistake cost us the game late in the game," Therrien said.

"As a coach I thought he could have had a better decision at the blue-line. He put himself in a tough position."

Subban was certainly culpable on the play - and in another loss - in his effort to create something for his offensively challenged team. The puck was knocked off his stick as he attempted to wheel around Mikhail Grigorenko, and he blew a tire reacting to the play while turning up ice.

It was a mistake, one of a couple on the play, many in the game, and of an innumerable amount in this lost season.

What Therrien failed to touch on, and the real reason the puck ended up in the net, was the egregious breakdown in the transition defense he teaches. His exculpated captain, Max Pacioretty, failed to recognize Iginla slipping away from coverage and to the front of the net as his fellow back checker, Jacob De La Rose rotated toward the puck handler.

It was in that moment that the game was lost - and because Carey Price was not around to bail them out.

Therrien then decided to orchestrate a teaching moment, perhaps one of his last with the organization, when he kept Subban, the team's most capable offensive player, on the bench while down one, with the goaltender pulled in a game they absolutely needed. Montreal failed to muster a meaningful scoring chance without Subban - or at least the threat of his cannon - in the final 90 seconds. As such, they remain nine points out in the division they once led by double figures.

In that decision, Therrien prioritized making an example out of Montreal's best player before two points. Can there be a more damning example to suggest he's given up? That he's lost control?

His biting remarks were measured, cogent, and came across as intrinsically vengeful, doing well to underscore the glaring oversight that seems to echo throughout, and continuously fell this organization. But if there's a silver lining, Therrien likely doesn't make them without one foot already out the door.