MONTREAL — Martin St. Louis laid out precisely what he wished to see from his Montreal Canadiens of their final recreation earlier than they had been to all disperse to numerous areas to benefit from the 9 days they’ll have off till their subsequent follow.
“I need us to be engaged and dedicated and probably not be on break,” he stated because the Ottawa Senators had been hitting the ice for his or her morning skate on the Bell Centre on Tuesday. “I need us to respect as we speak and to go about our enterprise the best way we now have. We haven’t gotten all the outcomes, however we’ve been constant into the method that we’re doing. And I’m fairly completely happy in the best way we behave as a crew on the ice and in addition the best way we’ve seemed, and I’m on the lookout for that tonight.”
The Canadiens had misplaced their final three video games previous to Tuesday’s contest, together with Saturday’s 5-0 loss to the Senators, and in case you hadn’t watched them carefully or thought of the context of their plight, you’d have puzzled how St. Louis could possibly be completely happy in any respect.
However a transfer the coach made in Montreal’s fourth consecutive loss outlined why he was in a position to be content material and supplied extra context as to why he stepped to the rostrum after yet one more loss and as soon as once more expressed his satisfaction.
It was within the second interval of Tuesday’s recreation, after the Canadiens had stumbled by means of the opening body and given up targets on two of Ottawa’s first three pictures, that St. Louis turned to Rafael Harvey-Pinard for a spark. And the explanation he gave for doing it stated every thing about the place this crew is at in its course of in the intervening time.
“One of many (items of) recommendation I bought taking this job is hearken to your intestine,” St. Louis stated. “That’s what I did.”
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That his intestine advised him to place the 24-year-old, who was enjoying in his 11th NHL recreation and his seventh this season, on the highest line with Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson was definitely a nod to Harvey-Pinard’s dedication, to his constant effort, and to the best way he’s been ending his probabilities of late.
The child who was drafted 201st general in 2019 after being handed over in every of his first two years of eligibility had three targets in his six video games since being known as up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket, and he was absolutely deserving of the task primarily based on that alone.
However who else was St. Louis going to decide on? The Canadiens are lacking eight common forwards, they’ve at the least three extra (we all know of) exterior of Suzuki’s line who’re banged up, and successful — even in opposition to a Senators crew that has been wholly disappointing for the reason that starting of the season — has confirmed almost unimaginable below the circumstances.
However successful isn’t the be-all, end-all for the Canadiens this season. Having a wholesome course of and attempting as exhausting as doable to win is. Growth is. And each these ends had been served on this recreation — a 5-4 loss.
“I didn’t like our first interval, however we battled exhausting within the second and third,” stated St. Louis. “We performed hockey. We didn’t win the sport, however, as for the hockey recreation we performed, I used to be proud of the group.”
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And he was completely happy for Harvey-Pinard on the event entrance.
The Saguenay, Que., native rewarded his coach and the Canadiens instantly after he was positioned with Suzuki and Anderson.
He stated afterwards he didn’t like his recreation by means of the primary interval and didn’t actually begin feeling good about it till the 2 shifts he performed earlier than being bumped to the highest line, however he had each cause to be completely happy about the remainder of it.
Harvey-Pinard rapidly produced a scoring probability and drew an influence play on his first two shifts from with Suzuki and Anderson. Then he scored two targets to assist the Canadiens battle again from 3-2 and 4-3 deficits
They misplaced on a aim from Brady Tkachuk with 1:18 remaining. It was a shot David Savard partially blocked, an unfortunate bounce that put them behind as soon as once more — a tricky break after they’d responded to taking place 2-1 within the first with 26 pictures to Ottawa’s 18 and 4 targets to Ottawa’s two from the start of the second to that time of the third, they usually nonetheless saved coming after it went in.
It wasn’t straightforward to swallow for the Canadiens, and that’s a very good factor as nicely.
They’re conscious of their circumstances, however they aren’t utilizing them as an excuse.
“You simply gotta come to work every single day,” Suzuki stated.
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And, as he identified, there’s upside to the scenario the Canadiens have been coping with.
“I feel it simply provides lots of new guys alternatives,” he stated after recording two assists and registering his first multi-point recreation since Jan. 7. “HP is enjoying rather well, and he won’t have been in a position to set up himself within the NHL with out these accidents.”
Harvey-Pinard isn’t the one one doing that.
“We’ve bought a ton of younger gamers,” Suzuki stated. “They’re simply studying their method by means of the NHL, and the very best expertise is to be on the market and enjoying significant minutes.”
No ahead within the NHL has performed extra of them per recreation than the 23-year-old has during the last 10 days, and he’ll bookend All-Star weekend in Florida with just a few days of much-earned relaxation.
Suzuki has grown by means of that course of. His younger teammates have performed the identical. And that’s cause sufficient for St. Louis to be content material.
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