The Canadian | Martin St-Louis’ original vision will be put to the test

(Brossard) Counting on a healthy group for a few days, Martin St-Louis can finally test the original vision he had for his group this season.

The head coach of the Montreal Canadiens brought together Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki in the second half of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday. Alex Newhook was transferred alongside Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine. This is how the Canadian’s first two trios were composed at the start of the preparatory calendar.

The experience didn’t immediately bear fruit, as the Habs had a disastrous third period against the Penguins, allowing six goals en route to a 9-2 loss. However, St. Louis was happier with his team’s performance. top 6 offensive despite a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

“It gave me what I hoped for,” he said Monday. “Newy” (Newhook) brought rhythm to the other line and helped her. And “Slaf” helped with puck possession alongside “Suzy” and Cole. Was it perfect? No. But I found that these two lines were better that way.

“It’s funny because I was looking at our lines from the last game and that was how we were hoping to start the season. We came back to that and we will see what happens,” he added.

Laine was injured in the fourth preseason game, forcing St. Louis to change its plan. And if the first trio amassed points at the start of the campaign, its overall five-on-five play was not always very convincing.

St-Louis tried different experiments, then was finally able to consider returning to its initial plan when Laine made his return to the game on December 3, against the New York Islanders.

At this point, Newhook was playing alongside Suzuki and Caufield and doing quite well. St. Louis finally felt the need to swap Slafkovsky and Newhook last week.

“I think the timing was right. I feel like it’s coming for “Slaf”. I follow my instinct,” said St-Louis.

One thing that has not changed for the Canadian, however, despite the entry of Laine and the return of Slafkovsky to the first line, is the team’s inability to shoot more than 30 shots on goal in a part.

The Habs managed 30 shots on goal or less in each of their first 30 games of the campaign. He will tie the NHL record for the longest such streak in a season if he does not hit the target at least 31 times Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres, according to Sportsnet Stats.

“I believe our style of play favors quality of shots and not quantity,” Suzuki said after being informed of the statistic. We don’t want to lose possession of the puck by attempting shots for no reason. Some teams do that, but not us.

“I have the feeling that our opponents also blocked several shots. Regardless, it’s not a statistic that worries me,” added Suzuki.

Before Monday’s matches, the Canadian was at 26^e rank across the NHL with an average of just under 16 shots blocked by the opponent per game. He was also at 31^e rank in the circuit with 53.2 shots attempted per game, including shots on goal, shots blocked by the opponent and off-target shots.

“Sometimes the best play is to send the puck to the net and hope for a deflection or a comeback, but sometimes it’s better to keep the puck,” said defenseman Lane Hutson.

“If we have the opponent stuck in their territory, it wouldn’t make sense for me to shoot on net if there is no screen and the goalie can make an easy save and stop the puck,” he said. he added. We are looking for quality chances. »

This logic follows the St. Louis-taught way of thinking of looking for “the best play,” rather than just attempting “one play.”

The Canadian will have the opportunity to surpass the 30 shots on goal mark Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres. The latter have lost their last 10 games (0-7-3) and rank ninth in the NHL by allowing an average of 29.5 shots on goal per game.