0 in 20 on the powerplay (preparatory games) : Martin St-Louis needs to stir his soup

Martin St-Louis will be in charge of the powerplay this season.

He replaces Alex Burrows, who will not be returning to the Montreal Canadiens bench.

So, how are things going so far with the man advantage in pre-season games? The answer is simple: the club can’t score, as we saw again last night against the Leafs (0 in 7).

Obviously, the games don’t matter in the standings… But it’s still relevant to note that the Habs have had 20 powerplay opportunities since the start of the preseason, and haven’t taken advantage of them once.

Not once.

0 in 20 on the powerplay, whether during the season or training camp, is not ideal.

Of course, now is the perfect time to try out some tricks, but there still have to be results to move things forward.

Martin St-Louis needs to find solutions…

Speaking of solutions, could one of them involve Lane Hutson?

You know where I’m going with this…

I ask because in yesterday’s game, the 2nd wave of the powerplay (with Hutson as QB) really was better than the first.

That said, Hutson looks so comfortable on the ice in such a situation that I think he could dislodge Matheson from PP1. It costs nothing to try, and if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.

Because the problem is that the Habs need to score on the powerplay if they want to win more games this season. Patrik Laine’s injury could hurt that, but St-Louis will have to live with it and create a system that works on the ice.

Matheson, Suzuki, Caufield, Dach and Slaf may be talented, but they just don’t seem to click.

Overtime

– Today’s waivers :

Today
McLaughlin (BOS)
Frk, Kirkland (CAL)
Sanford, Seney (CHI)
Gawdin, Hicketts, Madden, Walsh (LA)
Cecconi, Crotty, Raska (MIN)
Condotta, Gignac (MON)
Bellows, Hinostroza, Murray (NASH)
Laferriere, MacEachern, McGing, Skinner (STL)
Paquette-Bisson, Pouliot (TB)

– Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 29, 2024