The Montreal Canadiens' bench boss probably wouldn't agree, but his decision to change his coaching style after Game 4 was the turning point of this series.
In the end, it wasn’t Max Crozier’s thundering hit on Juraj Slafkovsky that was the turning point in this series or that Brandon Hagel’s jab to his chin, but rather when coach Martin St-Louis stopped hoping his top guys would “figure it out”. The Montreal Canadiens’ bench boss has been known for sticking to his guns, as he explained a couple of years ago, he didn’t care for the opinion of people he wouldn’t ask for advice. The bench boss is the type of person who believes he knows better until he’s proven wrong, and after Game 4, he concluded that he had been.
At that stage of the series, he realized that if he let the Tampa Bay Lightning’s bench boss get the matchups he wanted, the Habs wouldn’t come out on top. He not only decided to make some changes to his attacking lines but also learned to do so on the fly, mixing things up to keep Jon Cooper guessing as the game went on.
The coach realized that if he didn’t react, his team would be doomed. He understood that while there’s an argument to be made for not disturbing his players’ rhythm by letting them play with consistent lines, that also allowed the Bolts to gain some rhythm because of the Canadiens changes’ predictability.
St-Louis mixing up his lines and spreading the talent around gave Cooper headaches; he didn’t have two Anthony Cirelli. He still had his top defensive center stick to Nick Suzuki like glue, but having Juraj Slafkovsky take some shifts on another line at times with Ivan Demidov created some opportunities, even if they couldn’t convert. Furthermore, that freed his bottom six to create offense, as they had easier matchups.
In the end, this series forced St-Louis out of his comfort zone, and he proved up to the challenge, getting the better of the Jack Adams Trophy finalist he was pitted against. Montreal is a young team on the ice, and behind the bench, just like his players gained experience by taking on the Bolts, the coach gained some by facing Cooper.
There’s no doubt that St-Louis won’t want to take the credit for the series win, because he wasn’t on the ice, but recognizing his impact on proceedings doesn’t take anything away from the fact that Jakub Dobes was impressive all the way through, that the Canadiens played a physical brand of hockey that put pressure on the Bolts’ defense, that Josh Anderson’s forecheck was key or that the defense managed to make-do without Noah Dobson for six games. Credit has to be given where credit is due. The Canadiens won their duel with the Lightning, but they couldn't have done it if St-Louis didn't win his with Cooper.
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