There are sometimes lines that haunt you, even if they are said harmlessly and without ulterior motive.
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“They are dangerous even if they don’t have a goalkeeper,” said Martin St-Louis after his team’s morning training on Tuesday morning.
The Canadian head coach then pointed to the absence of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who has been out since the start of the season due to surgery in September.
There was no malice in St-Louis’ comments. Furthermore, we cannot say that he was fundamentally wrong. Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Victor Hedman are still damn good hockey players.
But as luck would have it, Matt Tomkins used his visit to the Bell Center to celebrate the first win of his NHL career.
The Lightning’s backup goalie stopped 22 shots and helped his teammates win 5-3.
Additionally, if the Habs want to reach the next level in their rise, they need to be able to overcome the masked men whose job it is to relieve the starting goaltender.
For the third game in a row, the Canadian failed to do so. In addition, his rival played a second game in as many evenings and a third meeting in four evenings.
Like the 1986 Nordiques
For the Canadian, Jake Allen’s evening was the complete opposite of Tomkins’. He was chased from the game after allowing four goals on nine shots. His evening of work ended after 13 minutes and 50 seconds of play.
Apparently Jon Cooper’s men weren’t particularly impressed by the fact that Allen took a few photos with the Molson Cup just before the game.
The manner in which it was subsequently liquidated was reminiscent to older players of the manner in which the Nordiques were shown elimination in the first round in the spring of 1986.
They had raised the banner of Adams Division champions before the first game of the series. The Hartford Whalers responded by defeating them in three games. Not in four! On three!
On Tuesday night, it was Samuel Montembeault, who replaced Allen and was practically perfect with 17 shots, who made the confrontation interesting until the end.
Matheson and Harris
For this visit to Florida, Mike Matheson, who has been struggling with a minor injury against the Jets for a week and a half, had a new playing partner in Jordan Harris.
The experience was anything but conclusive. The duo was on the ice for the Lightning’s first four goals (one of which was shorthanded).
It wasn’t a step in the right direction for Matheson, who witnessed four of the Blues’ six goals on Saturday.
Beyond the goals allowed in their presence, Matheson and Harris were the authors of turnovers or daring decisions that could have allowed the Floridians to extend their lead.
The example of lightning
In the morning, St-Louis suggested that the Lightning’s culture, which he himself has seen grow, is a Canadian copy that he would like to see.
His men saw that they still had some crust to eat to accomplish this.
Additionally, the Lightning ate their brown bread for several seasons before once again becoming a team contending for major honors in 2014-2015.