“Martin St-Louis had his best game in the NHL yesterday”

Raphael Simard
“Martin St-Louis had his best game in the NHL yesterday”
Credit: YouTube

Last night, the Habs played a big game and are now heading back to Montreal with a 3-2 lead.

The game's MVP might not be who you think. Yes, Jakub Dobes, but Martin St-Louis may have coached his best game in the NHL.

Renaud Lavoie thinks he had Jon Cooper in his back pocket. Jean-Charles Lajoie didn't agree, but whatever.

Cooper is one of the best coaches in the NHL, if not the best. He has two Stanley Cups and is the head coach of Team Canada.

He's so good that he even seems to be able to manipulate the officials. He was a bit more subdued yesterday, but let's just say his background as a lawyer helps him in that regard. Let's hope that in Game 6, it's the fans who influence the referees. At least that's what Renaud Lavoie thinks.

Despite everything, St. Louis didn't let himself be intimidated by his counterpart and ran a great game. He called a timely timeout late in the game and managed his lines well throughout the contest. Leaving Phillip Danault and Mike Matheson on the ice for the final minutes was a smart move on his part, too.

Pierre McGuire, in fact, believes he threw Jon Cooper off his game, no less.

Richard Labbé on the Sortie de Zone podcast (LaPresse) added that the Habs' coach forced Cooper to react, even though Cooper had the last line change

In addition, MSL didn't play two of his best forwards, Cole Caufield and Ivan Demidov, very much.

This ice time management, which has been the talk of the town today, impressed McGuire, and he said he would have done the same. A good coach is never afraid of controversy if it helps his team win.

The proof: John Tortorella benched Pavel Dorofeyev in Game 4 against the Mammoth, and in Game 5, he scored a hat trick.

McGuire is confident that Caufield and Demidov will bounce back at home tomorrow night.


In a nutshell

– Oh yeah?

– Josh Anderson praised by Tom Wilson.

– One to watch.

– George Springer is back.

– The injured players are returning.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!