Pacioretty stands by Therrien: 'He's been absolutely phenomenal' during slump

Max Pacioretty isn't pining for a change behind the bench.

After Tuesday's loss on home ice to the rival Boston Bruins, the Montreal Canadiens captain praised head coach Michel Therrien, maintaining his belief that the team can find success under its current system.

"(Therrien's) been absolutely phenomenal during this (slump) and that's what makes it so hard," Pacioretty told reporters, according to Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette. "I can't believe how well he's handled this and how positive he's been with us. And night after night we haven't been able to step up for him and that's frustrating because we all believe in this room. We're all on board. We all know that this is the way the game is supposed to be played."

The reality, however, is that after a perfect 9-0 start to the season, the Canadiens have gone 4-16-1 in their last 21 games, and sit outside the playoff picture.

In Therrien's eyes, it's not for a lack of effort by his players.

"I've had enough that people are criticizing those guys," the coach said about his players. "Because, you know what, their work ethic is outstanding. Again tonight. The only thing that I can ask is to play them in a structure that's going to allow them to get scoring chances and get pucks at the net and to play solid defensively.

"Execution ... is it there all the time? Probably not ... probably not. Like all teams and all players ... but those guys don't deserve to get criticized for their effort. They don't deserve to get criticized."

Montreal has scored only eight goals during a five-game losing streak, but remain a top-five possession team, with a Corsi rating of 53.3 at five-on-five.

Obviously an injury to Carey Price has had an adverse effect on the team, but the temperature on Therrien's seat appears to be rising with every loss.