If Martin St-Louis decided to limit Juraj Slafkovsky’s playing time against the Avalanche on Saturday night, it’s because the coach had a reason.
And the reason is not complicated to understand.
Slaf was playing (more than) poorly since the day before in Chicago, he didn’t want to get involved on the ice and he was soft in each of his appearances. The coach therefore got tired of it and chose to send a message to his young player.
I imagine the message got through because at the Bell Center last night, the big #20 played one of his good games of the season.
It wasn’t perfect, especially when he was in his zone… But still: he played better and he collected an assist during the match.
We also have to give him credit for his pass on Caufield’s goal.
Slaf went into traffic, used his body to create space along the boards and found Caufield, who beat the goalie with a precise shot from the top of the net. enclave.
This is what you want to see from a 6-foot-3 guy:
The Slovak knows that he gave more effort yesterday and after the match, he wanted to laugh about his two outings in Chicago and Colorado.
He said it’s “funny how bad he was” against the Hawks and Avalanche and had a smile on his face after having a better performance last night.
This tells me that he is aware of the fact that he can give more:
Slaf has not been the most consistent player since the start of the season and this point needs to be improved for the coming years.
He is 20 years old, and these things are learned over time.
But like Slaf, Alex Newhook and Kirby Dach are somewhat in the same boat. They are not always at their best… But when they are in good shape, they are able to help the Canadian on the ice.
We see it with Dach recently, who has four goals in his last six games. And it is not a coincidence in my eyes that the Canadian won each of the matches in which #77 scored:
- Two goals against the Panthers (4-0 victory)
- A goal against the Golden Knights (3-2 victory)
- A goal against the Canucks (5-4 victory)
The points may not be there for Newhook (he’s been shut out in his last four games), but he’s not atrocious on the ice either. We feel that there is a certain chemistry building between him and Dach and if it can continue like this, things will go well for the Canadian.
Because I say it often and I won’t hesitate to repeat it: when the best players in a hockey club play like the best players, it helps to reap victories.
And at this level, we have really seen it since the game against the Panthers in Florida.
The Canadian has still won five of his last six games and he has been able to beat five nasty good teams in the National League, mainly because he has the support of his top-6.
In burst
– He was more than solid last night.
– Same thing for Lane Hutson.
– Let’s get the chairs out!
– It’s up to you to answer it.
– Oh wow !
