For the first time in a long time, the Montreal Canadiens completely dominated a team in scoring last night.
Indeed, the CH won by four goals last night, while they defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 5 to 1, which means that there will be free wings at the Cage aux sports between now and the next game.
It’s a victory that may seem perfect from the outside, but when you look at everything more closely, you realize that CH was unable to be consistent, even though it had a difficult second period.
Moreover, before scoring three quickly in the third period, CH only led by one goal and the lead therefore did not amount to much.
In short, Martin St-Louis had to make decisions to try to keep this lead, and one of these decisions was to place Juraj Slafkovsky on the fourth line at the end of the second period and to bench him at the start of the third period.
Indeed, Slaf was entitled to appearances on the fourth line, in addition to missing a few appearances at the start of the third period.
Martin St-Louis clearly wanted to send a message to his young player, who is not having the best possible start to the season, even if he has 11 points in 15 games.
Slafkovsky only has one goal this season, which is clearly not enough.
MSL needs to shake up its troops, and even though Slaf wasn’t necessarily playing a bad game last night, the head coach decided it was the right time to shock his player.
St-Louis is clearly more rigid and harsher with its players, and Jake Evans has noticed that.
Indeed, Evans claims that MSL treats them all the same, regardless of their status on the team, and therefore treats everyone more harshly.
At first glance, you might think the players might not like this change at St. Louis, but Evans says the players need it right now.
They need to be shaken up and awakened, especially considering the bad start to the season and the many tasteless and emotionless matches lost as if nothing had happened.
In short, I like to see St-Louis being tougher on its players, but I think there is a small problem.
Evans explains that the head coach treats everyone the same, but yet it really seems like he still favors his veterans.
Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and Mike Matheson have never been benched or even left out despite very difficult times since the start of the season.
On the other hand, when Slaf does not perform, he is quickly shaken and punished.
I understand that we need to frame the young guys, but in the middle of a rebuild, is it really the right thing to put Slafkovsky on the fourth line and Lane Hutson on the second power play?
Let’s see where all this leads and if St-Louis makes the right decisions regarding its locker room and its bench.
Prolongation
The CH honored Shea Weber before the match, and the former captain was treated to a very nice ovation from the crowd at the Bell Center.
Weber stayed true to himself with a VERY short speech, but a good speech.
It was also a special game for two Blue Jackets players, who were back in Montreal for the first time.
Sean Monahan and Jordan Harris were saluted by the crowd.
Monahan also showed his appreciation for the next generation of the Habs (#sarcasme), while he stole Lane Hutson’s stick during the game.
