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In Hainsight: Mad Marty Gets the Habs Back on Track |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
Since he has been at the helm of the Montreal Canadiens, Martin St-Louis has always looked calm and collected, he knows his team is young and he doesn’t believe in punishing his young players after they make a mistake. However, after a grim first period which left them trailing 2-0, the coach had enough, and he made it clear to his men. Nick Suzuki confirmed that St-Louis told them a few home truths but declined to report exactly what was said while Cole Caufield added that the bench boss only said things that needed to be said.
Whatever he said worked like a charm and after 27 seconds of play in the second frame, Suzuki got the monkey off his back by scoring his first goal of the year thanks to a turnover. The Jackets got their two-goal lead back on the power play later in the second, but the Canadiens fought right back with a Matheson man-advantage marker. Then, in the third, the Sainte-Flanelle tied things up when Caufield sent a puck to Monahan who was occupying prime real estate in front of the net and expertly deflected the puck behind Merzlikins. It was Caufield’s second helper on the night and he then scored the game winner in overtime, also notching the first star of the game. Captain Nick Suzuki also had a three-point night while blueliner Mike Matheson had 2, on top of turning into a shot blocking machine. In one single shift, he stopped three shots, thankfully it didn’t end like it did the last time a Canadiens’ defenseman did that (Savard’s broken hand).
After the game, the coach explained it was his players’ stubbornness that got him to lose his cool between the first and the second period. St-Louis had said in the past he’s not one to overcoach, he wouldn’t come down on every single mistake, but he would address the matter when he saw a worrying pattern, which he more than likely saw in both turnovers and lack of discipline leading to penalties. To be fair, the officiating has left a lot to be desired this season, but a fact remains; players can see how the refs are calling the game and they need to take that into account, they need to make a read off the refs, just like they can make reads off the play on the ice.
It was great to see the Canadiens’ first line produce an even strength goal last night, but the fact that it took this long into the season for it to happen clearly shows that the coach has a good duo on his hands, but he has yet to find the final cog to have a real first line. Prior to the season, I wrote that for me, the final piece of the first line puzzle should be Sean Monahan and I strongly believe that once Christian Dvorak is back, the former Flame will get a promotion to the top line. St-Louis has dropped a hint about that a few days ago, saying once Dvorak would be back in the fold, he’d be able to make his top-six even better.
As for the second line, it’s clicking pretty well, but they seem unable to bury their chances. When asked what he thought was missing for it to produce, the coach simply said: “A few bounces”. Clearly, a little bit of puck luck would go a long way in this case. So far, I’ve been impressed with Alex Newhook’s work, he may not be big, but he’s so speedy and shifty that he’s hard to stop. Grant McCagg wrote on Twitter (or X) last night that he lacked vision and skills to be a true threat, but I disagree. I believe Newhook has got the tools and under St-Louis tutelage, he’ll learn to use them better thanks to reading the game better. As the coach would say, he’ll learn to play the game rather than just his game.
Speaking of reads, Caufield was asked by reporters post-game if he was instructed to shoot the puck as much as possible in OT by his coach and he replied: “He wants us to play hockey, play the game, I think we’re all smart players out there so you got to make the reads. There are strategies for three on three obviously, keep the puck, don’t let them change but at the end of the day you just need to outcompete them”. Last night’s overtime game-winner was Caufield’s sixth career overtime goal and according to Sportsnet, he became the fastest player to reach that mark. Brayden Point did it in 190 games and Frank Finnigan did it in 192 games, but Caufield only needed 130 games to accomplish the feat.
Finally, a word about officiating, yesterday rookie Dimitri Voronkov was playing in a dangerous manner, multiplying the reckless hits may it be through boarding or hits to the head and when the players tried to make him realize that he couldn’t do that, they got roughing calls to offset the penalties given to him. I understand that referees have been told to crack down and call all infractions, but this approach could lead to more players taking liberties and landing dangerous hits if accountability is taken out of the equation. Crackdown on holding and interference calls if you want, but don’t prevent the players from protecting each other.
Today, the team will be practicing in Brossard at 11:30 and media availabilities will follow. Tomorrow, the Habs will play one last game at the Bell Center against the Jets before heading out west to take on the Golden Knights Monday, the Coyotes on Thursday and the Blues on Saturday, get ready for some late nights!
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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