SAINT PAUL, Minnesota | It’s a cliché as old as time, but in a close game like the one between the Canadiens and the Wild, these are the details that ultimately change the game.
The Canadian was still fully in the game until Jayden Struble accidentally hit Jared Spurgeon with his stick, cutting him in the process.
That’s a detail. Struble had sustained the attack and created a three-on-two outnumbered situation when he lost the puck to Spurgeon and, in attempting to recover it, committed the infraction that cost him four minutes and allowed Marco Rossi to make it 2-0 Minnesota.
“It’s boring, we arrive in three against two and we take a penalty. These are actions that help the other team. We must continue to try to limit that, especially in three against two,” recognized Martin St-Louis.
The work had to be done, according to Matheson
It must be said that very shortly after Rossi’s goal, CH also got a chance to deploy their five-man attack, but in vain.
Then another penalty from Lane Hutson, this time for roughing Ryan Hartman, ultimately ended the team’s chances of a comeback.
But Mike Matheson refused to blame his teammates.
“At the same time, if we do the work [en désavantage numérique]it would have given the team momentum for the last two minutes. You just have to deal with the obstacles that the match gives you.”
“Not in the business of being happy with defeats” – Matheson –
Slaf unhappy with calls
A little further away, Juraj Slafkovsky bit the inside of his lips. Clearly, he didn’t like a few calls from officials during Thursday’s game, including when goalkeeper Filip Gustavsson rushed at him after he accidentally made contact with him.
“The calls here are quite strange,” he complained. At the same time, it’s not me who makes the decisions. If they judged it wasn’t a penalty, it probably wasn’t one.”
Among the “strange” calls in his eyes, the one on Hutson at the end of the match.
“I wonder if you should make that call with three minutes left. But it’s not my responsibility and I have to deal with it,” he added.
“We haven’t created enough” – Slafkovsky –
