Martin St-Louis had to face the facts. The experiment he tried by placing Juraj Slafkovsky in the company of Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine went nowhere.
After four matches and two periods, he therefore decided to bring back the Slovakian with his most regular companions: Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. It will be the same Saturday evening in Winnipeg.
“I found that the trio of Dach, Patty and Slaf didn’t give me enough,” explained the Canadian head coach. We didn’t spend enough time in offensive territory.”
Photo Martin Chevalier
As mentioned in the analysis of Thursday’s game loss, in the first four games they played together, the members of this unit posted an expected goals percentage of 26.4%. They generated five high-danger scoring chances while conceding 14. Their puck possession index sat at 33%.
What did they miss?
“We are three similar guys, three guys who want the puck, so we did our own things,” Slafkovsky analyzed. And when three guys try to do their own thing, it doesn’t work. You don’t have the puck as much as you would like because you often lose it.
“We must look forward” – Slafkovsky –
More speed
The 20-year-old striker believes he could be more useful on the first unit. That his style of play will blend better with that of numbers 13 and 14.
“I can be stronger in the corners, win more battles for the puck. I feel like I’m a decent game maker, he mentioned. With two players who can score a lot, I can stand near the net and jump on returns.
“I will create space for them. It worked last year,” he added.
“We must look forward” – Slafkovsky –
What Slafkovsky might have added is that the three big guys didn’t move much air. With them on the playing surface, the pace was far from frenzied.
Alex Newhook will definitely fill this gap.
“Maybe it’s a good thing to bring about this permutation. It should bring new energy, Slafkovsky said. Newy is a very good skater. He can help these guys. It could work. We’ll see.”
It remains to be seen whether the chemistry will work. Since the start of the season, Newhook, like Laine, prefers to close games. And not orchestrate them.
