The Canadian | When David Savard leads by example

(Pittsburgh) David Savard did not participate in Friday’s punitive training in Washington. He was receiving treatment, the team said.

And to hear Martin St-Louis speak, if there is one who didn’t need to sweat like the others did, it’s him.

“Savvy, he will always have a long leash with me, because he has honest, strong actions and he always takes care of the team,” said St-Louis, with the tone of a professor, during his meeting with the media on Saturday noon.

St-Louis was then questioned specifically about the sequence during which Savard blocked 3 shots, including 2 from Alexander Ovechkin, in 27 seconds on Thursday. It was then 6-3 Capitals, there were less than 3 minutes left in the match, the Habs defended themselves 3 against 5 and the two ranking points awaited the Capitals.

Savard will indeed be at his post Saturday night against the Penguins, despite his leave the day before.

“For me, the match is not over, your goalkeeper is still in the net and it is for him that we are doing it,” explained the colossus of the maskoutain. We play until the end, no matter the score. It was a 5-on-3 and we won’t give away shots just because it’s 6-3. It’s not in my DNA or the team’s DNA. I was trying to do my job in front of Prime [Cayden Primeau] and that’s what I had to do at that time. »

“We get that from Savvy in every match,” recalled Juraj Slafkovsky. We love seeing him throw himself in front of pucks. We, the young people, must follow him. »

Savard is obviously not flawless either. At 34, he is no longer the most mobile of skaters. When on the ice at 5-on-5 this season, the Habs have had 22 scoring chances and allowed 39, according to Natural Stat Trick. This ratio of 36% is the 13^e of the team, out of 17 players who played at least 100 minutes. Except that Savard does it by inheriting thankless mandates, namely facing players from the top 6 and mentoring a young Lane Hutson in his first steps in the NHL.

It’s unclear to what extent St. Louis set Savard as an example for its players to follow in pregame meetings. “It will stay between the players and me,” replied the head coach.

But the fact remains that the message that St-Louis wants to send to its players, after they had allowed 14 goals in their last 2 games, was in line with what it praises about Savard.

For the coach, adopting a new mentality is “the next step”.

And how can we describe this attitude? “You have to understand that every play counts,” said St-Louis. And to do actions that benefit more than just one person, that benefit the rest of the team. These actions are never the same, you never know when you will have to do it, because the game is fast. But we don’t have enough actions that take care of the rest of the team. »

Montembeault back

It’s Saturday evening that we will have the beginnings of an answer to whether the strong method recommended on Friday has had effect.

We thought that the CH had received this slap in the face last week, with two strong drives which followed a 7-2 thaw at the hands of the Rangers. The team then went on to win two games this weekend, before falling to Seattle and Washington.

“To come back in this situation after two good games, it’s not ideal,” Savard agreed. We have to grow quickly as a team and be ready for every game. Right now it feels like you’re tossing a quarter in the air and you never know what you’re going to get. »

“They worked [vendredi]. But we will talk to each other after the match and we will see if I am happy with their state of mind,” added St-Louis.

Samuel Montembeault will resume his place in front of the net. He will play his first game on the road this season.

In defense, Arber Xhekaj will return to the lineup in favor of Justin Barron. However, the identity of the combinations on both defense and offense is unknown, since the team did not practice on Saturday.

Alex Nedeljkovic will defend the Penguins’ net, according to the media who were present at their training center north of Pittsburgh, or in the suburbs of Cleveland, the most cynical will say.