Juraj Slafkovsky benched: St-Louis is much tougher on his players

For the first time in a very long time, the Montreal Canadiens completely dominated a team’s scoring last night.

The Habs won by four goals last night, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1, which means there will be free wings at the Cage aux sports until the next game.

It’s a win that may look perfect from the outside, but when you look at it more closely, you realize that the Habs weren’t consistent, as they struggled in the second period.

What’s more, before scoring three quickly in the third period, the Habs led by just one goal, so the lead didn’t hold much water.

In short, Martin St-Louis had to make decisions to try and hold on to the lead, and one of those decisions was to put Juraj Slafkovsky on the fourth line late in the second period and bench him early in the third.

Frustrated and benched, Juraj Slafkovsky was consoled by teammate Cole Caufield @renlavoietva pic.twitter.com/zRX8OEuL6G

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) November 17, 2024

Indeed, Slaf was allowed presences on the fourth line, as well as missing a few early in the third period.

Martin St-Louis clearly wanted to send a message to his young player, who is not off to the best possible start to the season, even though he has 11 points in 15 games.

Slafkovsky has just one goal this season, which is clearly not enough.

MSL needs to shake up its troops, and while Slaf wasn’t necessarily having a bad game last night, the head coach decided it was the right time to shock his player.

St-Louis is clearly more rigid and harder on his players, and Jake Evans noticed.

#Habs Jake Evans on MSL: “he’s being a lot harder; he’s treating us like we’re grown up and we need that right now. Doesn’t matter if you’re older or younger, you need to stick to game plan, be a good team player first… and if you’re not, you need to be told that.”

– Priyanta Emrith (@HabsInHighHeels) November 17, 2024

Indeed, Evans claims that MSL treats them all the same, regardless of their status in the team, and therefore treats everyone more harshly.

On the face of it, you’d think the players might not like this change in St. Louis, but Evans says the players need this right now.

They need to be shaken up and woken up, especially considering the poor start to the season and the many tasteless, emotionless games lost as if nothing had happened.

In short, I’d like to see St-Louis be tougher on his players, but I think there’s a bit of a problem.

Evans explains that the head coach treats everyone the same, but yet, it really looks like he’s still favoring his veterans.

Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia and Mike Matheson have never been benched or even left out, despite some very difficult moments since the start of the season.

On the other hand, when Slaf doesn’t perform, he’s quickly shuffled and punished.

I understand the need to coach the youngsters, but in the midst of a rebuild, is it really the right thing to put Slafkovsky on the fourth line and Lane Hutson on the second powerplay?

I’m the middle of a rebuild,

Slafkovsky is playing on the 4th line and Lane Hutson is not playing on the first powerplay unit.

Let that sink in.

– Talk_canadiens (@talk_canadiens) November 17, 2024

Let’s see where all this leads and if St-Louis makes the right decisions regarding its dressing room and bench.

Extension

The Habs honoured Shea Weber before the game, and the former captain got a very nice ovation from the Bell Centre crowd.

Weber remained true to form with a VERY short, but good speech.

It was also a special game for two Blue Jackets players, who were back in Montreal for the first time.

Sean Monahan and Jordan Harris were greeted by the crowd.

Monahan showed his appreciation for the Habs’ relief(#sarcasm) by stealing Lane Hutson’s stick during the game.

Sean Monahan wanted a Lane Hutson memento.

So he took his stick. pic.twitter.com/wyk9eyc29n

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 17, 2024