MONTREAL – With development in mind, Martin St-Louis has accustomed his players to deploying positive energy since his arrival on the scene. But he had reached his limit after this first period against the Blue Jackets.
“It’s really infrequent, it’s always positive. It feels good sometimes to wake the guys up, we responded in the right way,” explained goalkeeper Samuel Montembeault who appreciated the tactic and especially the result.
St-Louis summed up the motivation to take his eyes off the Rocket by using the word “stubborn” to describe his troop.
“We tried to force things too much in the first period, especially in the offensive zone, and that led to turnovers. We had to simplify things and play deeper in their territory. We wanted to simplify everything and send traffic to the net,” explained Montembeault.
A few feet from him, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard added a few elements to the challenge.
“Of course he wasn’t happy with the way we played and neither were we. We were talking about it even before he entered the locker room. We committed too many turnovers and that gave them too easy numbers,” he said.
“We had to wake up, that was the general message,” added Harvey-Pinard.
Captain Nick Suzuki was also frustrated with his club’s first half.
“Martin said a few things, things I’m not going to share, but we had to be better. It wasn’t us in the first half and we showed our true colors afterwards,” said the number 14.
This comeback from the Canadian (4-2-1) demonstrates the resilient side of the group. The response was also interesting because the team’s leaders took their game up a notch. Suzuki scored, Cole Caufield scored the winning goal, Michael Matheson ended his evening with five blocked shots and a goal, Sean Monahan was again very useful in addition to scoring…
St-Louis spoke about his bond with his leaders and their role.
“I feel that I am close to them, they know that I can understand everything they are going through. I’m not trying to tell them what to do, but rather lead them in the right direction. Leadership starts from the top and I do my part, but it’s important that leadership is passed down to the bottom. It’s important for them that they do that, that’s how you build a team,” testified the coach.
The opportunity was also great to question the players about Caufield who has lost none of his magic touch. It was a fourth goal for the CH scorer who wants to maintain his place among the NHL elite.
“I don’t think anyone has forgotten (that he is an elite player). He’s a really special player,” Matheson responded with a big smile.
Let’s finish with the punishments that almost prevented the Canadian from getting back on track.
“There is a big emphasis on special teams and we are working on that. But sometimes the important thing is to kill the right penalty and score at the right time on the power play. In this match, we did it so well that we won the game,” said St-Louis.
The coach was also proud that his players had dealt with the punishment imposed on Brendan Gallagher at the end of the match.
« Gally plays very good hockey and his punishments are combative, not lazy. I’m glad they succeeded for him,” commented the coach.
2023-10-27 03:38:00
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