Juraj Slafkovsky didn’t hit the target, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. The Slovakian was one of the most threatening attackers in the Habs camp.
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The tall winger attempted ten shots towards the net defended by Casey DeSmith. Six of them made it to the Canucks goalie. This is a high for him since his NHL debut.
“I know I need to shoot more at the net. “That’s what everyone tells me,” Slafkovsky said after the meeting. I always go into games with the intention of getting as many shots as possible. »
“But tonight was definitely very good. I hope I can build on that,” he added.
More comfortable
Obviously, there will still be games where Slafkovsky will look for himself. Nothing is perfect at 19. As Martin St-Louis often says: the process takes its course.
“Tonight was the game where he seemed most comfortable reading the game. And if you read the game well, the puck will find you,” said the coach. -Chief of the Canadian.
“Compared to last year, he feels much more comfortable. He continued to touch the puck much more often. Now the next step is to be more efficient with your touch. »
Being more efficient means being less hesitant when deciding between a shot or a pass. It’s also about drawing more vividly, a bit like Cole Caufield does when he fires his wrist shots.
Lack of opportunism
If Slafkovsky had been able to buy a goal like Josh Anderson did, the Canadian might have had a better result against the Canucks.
While he recognized his team’s emotions may have waned, St-Louis was still happy with his performance after the previous day’s intense clash against the Bruins.
“We played three games in a row against good teams. Tonight we lost based on the score, but it was a pretty even game. We lacked execution in the first section, but we were there in the second section. “We just weren’t opportunistic,” analyzed St-Louis.
♦ Questionable case due to an upper-body injury sustained in the second period on Saturday. Jordan Harris faced the Canucks. In the morning the Canadian tried to call Gustav Lindström back.
♦ To make room for him on the 23-player roster, Joel Armia was brought back to Laval.