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If the Habs exceeded expectations early on, largely thanks to their goaltenders playing above their heads, the month of December has seen them crash in the standings after losing 11 out of their 15 games. Now 27th in the standings, the young Habs will be hoping to improve in this second half of the season, but to do so, they’ll have to play a more committed game defensively.

Yesterday, Anthony Richard was sent back to the Rocket in the AHL and today, the Canadiens recalled Jesse Ylonen. Judging by the lines on display in Brossard at practice this morning, he may not get to play Thursday night against the Predators as Pezzetta, Drouin and Hoffman were forming the 4th line. The 23 year-old was drafted by the Canadiens back in 2018 and he’s since played 15th games in the NHL with the Habs but he’s yet to play one this season.

Martin St-Louis said that he was pleased with how his players reacted this morning as they worked on defending against the rush. He acknowledged that team commitment to team defense has got to start with the top guys on the team, those who have more ice-time, they need to lead by example. St-Louis explained that Richard wasn’t sent back to the AHL because of flaws in his game but rather because the team wanted to see what Ylonen could do.

After practice today, Eric Engels reported that 8 to 10 Habs were meeting with a French teacher today after expressing a desire to learn the language. A timetable will be built that fits their schedule after this initial meeting. I’ve said it time and time again, I do not believe that the Canadiens’ players have to speak French, but kudos to those who want to do it and learn. That shouldn’t lead to any negative inference for those who don’t want to though and hopefully it won’t.

There’s no game tonight so the Canadiens should be well rested to take on Nashville tomorrow for PK Subban night.

Suivez les entrevues de vestiaire en direct du Complexe sportif Bell.

Tune in now to media ops live from Brossard.
#GoHabsGo https://t.co/UUBMhEuXjn

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 11, 2023

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