NEW YORK | A little over a month ago, the Canadian was defeated 7-2 by the Rangers at the Bell Centre. It seems a long way away today.
Indeed, the star of the New Yorkers has faded considerably since then and they must have digested their turkey and Thanksgiving atocas badly because by losing to the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday afternoon, They thus lost a fifth match in a row.
In addition to this painful streak, the Rangers must deal with trade rumors that involve several veterans of the team. In short, there is never a flat second in Manhattan.
“Of course we will have to expect a response from them. It’s a team that is trying to dig itself out of the hole,” noted Samuel Montembeault very accurately after the Canadian’s training, which ended around the time the game between the Rangers and the Flyers began.
Short memory
The hockey world is full of clichés; that one must have a short memory after a setback is one of the best known. But it’s still difficult to forget a 7-2 home defeat.
“In this match, we didn’t play our way, it wasn’t us,” admitted Kaiden Guhle. We owe Samuel a good match.”
The 22-year-old defenseman is referring to the fact that Montembeault was left to his own devices early in the game, allowing four goals on six shots and his game ending midway through the first period. The main person concerned prefers not to think about it anymore.
“It’s certain that when you have a bad match against a team, it’s in the match immediately afterwards that you want to come back, not play again against this team a month later.”
Matheson uncertain
Returning to practice, defenseman Mike Matheson took his usual practice sessions, but was not made available to the media as his presence in the lineup for Saturday’s game remained uncertain.
The veteran missed the team’s last two games with a lower-body injury and hasn’t taken the ice since the weekend.
Martin St-Louis confirmed that Montembeault will be in net on Saturday. Otherwise, he wasn’t yet sure of his lineup, especially given the uncertainty surrounding Matheson, but he hoped to see the lineup that won Wednesday in Columbus.
“I would be surprised if we don’t come back with the same lines.”
Change for Slaf
On Wednesday, Juraj Slafkovsky played a good game, collecting a goal and an assist alongside Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher.
It is also to help the young Slovak regain confidence and regain his rhythm that St-Louis removed Josh Anderson from its most consistent trio in recent meetings.
“It was hard to separate D-Vo, Gally and Andy, but I felt like I had to do it. They are in a very good place mentally and in that time, you are able to help.
“For Slaf, I want to see a lot of the same thing, that he continues to seek consistency throughout the same match and that will help him find it throughout all the matches.”
