PITTSBURGH | Four goals against the Rangers, three goals against the Sabres, two against the Penguins. The Canadian has been experiencing real torture in the second third for a week now. Hollow moments that turn honest efforts into frustrating setbacks.
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“The second periods of games have been hurting us lately,” admitted Martin St-Louis during his post-match press conference.
Why the second period?
“It's difficult to get defenders off the ice when you can't place the puck deep. It happens even more often when you have tired guys. We have to manage these moments and simplify certain things, he explained. There is a bit of a learning curve. »
The Habs dominated against the Penguins with 32 to 27 shots on goal. The unfortunate thing is that the opponent finds a way to exploit these mistakes, while the opposite happens too rarely. And it’s not for lack of effort.
“Our commitment and intentions are there, but we lack closure,” he said. We had chances to take the lead in the second half, but we couldn't break away. »
Among these few occasions we can mention that of Joshua Roy. The Quebecer played around Tristan Jarry's goal a few times. He finished the evening with five shots, a best he shared with Cole Caufield.
“Towards the end of the second third we made a good push, but it didn’t go in,” he said.
Struble injured
In the team's locker room, Mike Matheson somewhat agreed with his coach.
“After their two goals [en 21 secondes], we fought. In the third half we tried to find a way back into the game,” explained the Canadian’s only goalscorer.
However, the Montrealer wasn't ready to say that he and his teammates were shaken by those two quick goals.
“The power play goal was a great move by them. Next, Cole [Caufield] lost his blade. It seemed worse because it happened at the next presence. If it had happened ten minutes later, I don't think we would have blamed it on confidence. »
In the third period, the Canadian lost the services of Jayden Struble. The Canadian full-back left the game after suffering a mysterious injury to his left leg. Suffered discomfort without making contact with an opponent.