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Martin St-Louis and Nick Suzuki must learn from Patrick Roy

 Charles-Alexis Brisebois
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Martin St-Louis and Nick Suzuki must learn from Patrick Roy
Credit: Getty Images

On October 14, the Canadiens lost 6-3 to the Penguins. Three days later, the Kings won 4-1. On October 22, the “Tuesday Curse” began with a 7-2 defeat against the Rangers. And a week later, the Kraken won 8-2.

These are four games that the Canadiens lost by at least three goals at home in October.

But don’t think it’s over. Vegas won 6-2 on November 23 and last night, there was obviously that huge setback of 9-2 against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Six losses like that at home in two months of activity is obviously way too much. If you’re hesitant to pay too much to watch a Canadiens game in the coming weeks, keep that in mind.

Even though the Canadiens didn’t exactly play badly during the first 40 minutes of yesterday’s game and were in the mix, it’s clear that even the effect of Patrik Laine couldn’t save the Canadiens in the third period.

By the way, over the past five games, the Canadiens are 0-2 when they don’t score and 3-0 when they do. That’s notable.

Giving up six goals in the third period and drowning out the fans’ boos by turning up the music isn’t exactly befitting of the Montreal Canadiens. And this, even though the team is in a rebuild. #InTheMix

(Credit: NHL.com)

And what’s also not dignified is Martin St-Louis’s indifference at the press conference. He probably wasn’t happy with his guys, but let’s just say he didn’t want to show it too much.

You might say that I’m only showing an isolated excerpt here, but go watch his press conference and you’ll see that it’s quite representative of the tone the coach used after the game.

 

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He wasn’t exactly angry. He was more “disappointed than angry” and he will have to watch the game again to talk about it. Not angry? Really?

On the other side, in New York, Patrik Roy saw his team win… but because the club was leading 5-1 and then gave up three straight goals, the Islanders’ coach got angry.

 

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You can hear him say that if he had been in Ilya Sorokin’s place (and had been in his time), he would have broken a stick in the locker room after seeing the effort of the guys in front of him.

A coach who gets beaten by seven goals isn’t angry and a coach who wins wants to break everything. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

The Canadiens players see their coach remain calm, the lines have hardly changed during the game (only Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook moved) and they know that Michael Pezzetta won’t come to take their place.

Is there a sense of urgency? I don’t think so.

At the same time, if the captain (Nick Suzuki) says he doesn’t believe the guys have stopped working and the coach doesn’t get publicly angry, why would there be a sense of urgency?

It was probably different behind closed doors, but managing to keep calm a few minutes after such a drubbing shows that two of the team’s leaders aren’t completely angry either.

Obviously, there were guys who were unhappy. Jake Evans, unlike the captain, thinks the players have stopped working and Brendan Gallagher looked destroyed.

He understands the fans who booed, even if it hurts him. And the #11 says he’s tired of saying that things need to change… without anything actually changing with his team afterward.

Martin St-Louis, Kent Hughes, and Jeff Gorton need to find solutions. Whether it’s shaking up the fruit salad, going for a punishing practice, or calling someone up, something needs to happen.

After a great stretch at home just before, this is where we are. Things change quickly in the hockey world.

I watched the third period later, fully aware that the team had suffered a serious beating. Each zone entry was an adventure, knowing what was coming.

What do I take away from all this?

1. I want to start with some positivity because the stretch by Lane Hutson in the first (the one where he did whatever he wanted on the ice) was beautiful to watch.

He did what he wanted with the puck and could have racked up several assists.

But you know why that sequence was made possible, right? Because he never stopped working and always came out of the corner with the puck, even against bigger and stronger guys than him.

If Ivan Demidov, Patrik Laine, or Cole Caufield had been on the ice with him, the Canadiens would have scored. And the fans might have stayed at the Bell Centre?

2. Just before the game, David Savard was forced to give up his place to Jayden Struble. Let’s just say that in a game where the Canadiens appeared disorganized (for the first time in a few games), his importance was proven.

Mike Matheson didn’t step up enough to compensate. Because even though he found the first power play at one point, he still had a lousy game.

Is it because a virus is circulating in the locker room?

Nevertheless, note that Arber Xhekaj, without Savard, didn’t look bad. He kept his game simple (letting the opponent make mistakes instead of making them himself) and played physically. It’s pretty hard to blame him these days.

3. Let’s go with a bit of positivity: Cole Caufield made a beautiful play to set up Nick Suzuki’s goal at the start of the game, it was really beautiful to see.

And he did it in front of the team’s coach for the American team at the Four Nations tournament.

4. The goalies didn’t do well, even if they shouldn’t bear the entire burden of the loss. But when you give up nine goals, it’s clear that the goalkeepers weren’t perfect.

20-of-26 for Samuel Montembeault and 4-of-7 for Cayden Primeau, who played 11:19 during the game, isn’t great.

5. Given how the Canadiens are playing, it’s clear that the team still needs help. Would a good draft pick help this team? Asking the question is also answering it.

I won’t be the first to throw tomatoes at Marc-Olivier Beaudoin. Will you?


Overtime

After experiencing the worst hockey period in a long time, will the guys experience this morning (11 am) the worst practice in a while? Will the coach “forget” the pucks?

I can’t wait to see that. And I’m also eager to see if a recall will be made to shake things up.

Let’s remember that after practice, the team will head to Winnipeg for tomorrow night’s game. It won’t be exactly an easy matchup against a powerhouse in the National Hockey League.

Which Canadiens will show up? The one that crashes… or the one that plays well on the road against big teams?

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