Hockey

“Those who can’t play defensively will sit out”: Martin St-Louis no longer laughs
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
“Those who can’t play defensively will sit out”: Martin St-Louis no longer laughs
Credit: X

Yesterday, the Canadiens played a bad one.

It wasn't just that the Canadiens lost 5-2: it was the way they played. It was simply a horrible game defensively… and physically… and in terms of intensity.

And the result, of course.

Samuel Montembeault didn't do his job as well as he's capable of, but it has to be said that he really didn't have much help in front of him either.

Defensively, the guys were mixed up like a deck of cards.

You could see it right from the start. It was so obvious that Martin St-Louis, after the first period, told his guys that those who didn't know how to play defensively were going to be benched.

That's a pretty big deal.

In a man-to-man system where bad nights are… really bad, there were a few guys who skipped their turn during the game.

Josh Anderson played just 10 minutes. Jake Evans, normally a defensive force, had just over nine minutes. Florian Xhekaj had nine shifts in all. Zachary Bolduc lost his place on the first line and the first power play for a stretch.

Ivan Demidov played more than 17 minutes.

Arber Xhekaj (12:48) didn't necessarily play less than usual… and Jayden Struble played 17 minutes even though he had a tough game.

The fact that Lane Hutson played for 26 minutes despite defensive lapses shows that the coach's comments were mainly about the forwards.

But all in all, it was just a frustrating game to watch.


extension

In other words, the Canadiens have lost their last two games 12-4. Jakub Dobes and Samuel Montembeault were both called upon to finish the game they started.

Will it be better tonight, when Andrei Markov is honored? Is this still the opponent who will attract the most attention in the Canadiens' arena?

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