The Montreal Canadiens nearly got burned last night, but through it all, Martin St-Louis stayed calm and collected. The bench boss knows he's got a young team, and he knows how to deal with it.
Martin St-Louis’ men had a brush with disaster last night; they played with fire but came out of it unburnt, much like the mother of dragons in Game of Thrones. Unlike the fictional character, though, they cannot afford to play with fire too much. The Montreal Canadiens had a three-goal lead with just 15 minutes left in their tilt with the Seattle Kraken, or so they thought.
Jayden Struble, who was having a good game up to this point, decided to try his hand at an attacking play by passing the puck up ice to Juraj Slafkovsky, but it resulted in a turnover. Caught off guard, the 24-year-old blueliner had to take a hooking penalty, and that nearly became the turning point in the game. The ensuing power play gave the Kraken an opportunity they didn’t miss, scoring their first goal of the game and gaining momentum, which led to two more goals and a tie. Thankfully for Struble, marksman Cole Caufield came to the rescue and scored the game-winner in overtime, but the rearguard still got a good scare.
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After the game, the Northeastern alumni said:
It was just a bad play. I thought I saw Slaf kind of and I thought, ‘I’ll try to feather one in there.’ That’s not really my game. Just put the puck deep and live to fight another day. I thought I had a good game up until then. And then, the boys, obviously they came back. You have star players like that to pick us up when we’re down.- Struble on that play
After the turnover, St-Louis didn’t pull a Pierre Page on Mats Sundin moment; he came to Struble and asked him why that was not the play he should have made. The coach kept his cool because he knew he had a young team, and that was the perfect moment to teach. Asked about the play in his post-game media availability, he said:
It was the end of a shift, and we didn’t have a numerical advantage; you have to put the puck in deep. There was nothing to gain from that play, especially when you’re up 3-0. [,,,] There comes a time in the game where you have to manage it depending on the situation you’re in, and we were fine right up to that point.- St-Louis on that play
Later, he added:
There were far more positives than negatives with Strubs tonight. He was very good until that, and I think it snowballed for the rest of the game, and we’re going to talk about it. There are learning moments there for him and for everybody. I mean, he was the one, but other guys are going to be in that situation, so can we learn from someone’s action?- St-Louis on Struble
The fact is, though, the Canadiens currently sit atop the Atlantic Division and are in a five-way tie for the league lead with 16 points. St-Louis’ team is having a great start to the season. Before last night’s game, they had 15 players with at least a goal (first in the NHL), 30 points from the defense corps (first in the NHL), 16 points from the rookies and five wins from their rookie goalie (1st in the NHL), five wins by a single goal (first in the NHL) and three comeback performances after the second period (also first in the NHL).
The coach added:
As a team, we’re playing really good hockey, but we still have things to learn as a young team. I mean, for a coach, we get the two points and an opportunity to do some coaching.-
St-Louis has always looked like he enjoyed his job since joining the Canadiens, but there’s an extra spring in his step this season. His competitive side his enjoying the wins, but he’s fully aware that he still has some teaching to do, and that’s fine because he loves doing it. That much is evident by the way he patiently breaks out plays with players one-on-one in practice.
The former Tampa Bay Lightning star had no professional coaching experience when he landed one of hockey's most high-profile gigs. Still, he had plenty of experience in teaching things, and that’s just what the Canadiens needed.
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