The Canadian surprised many with a start to the season that exceeded expectations. So much so that we wondered if he had finally reached another stage in his development. Even Martin St-Louis got caught up in the game.
“The success we had early on hid some little things. “I take responsibility for that as a young coach,” said St-Louis before the team flew to Detroit.
Photo agency QMI, JOEL LEMAY
The Canadian head coach is the type to see the glass half full most of the time and claims he may have let go of some flaws or bad habits due to the surprising results his team achieved up until last week.
“When you win, sometimes you put a Band-Aid on it, even though you might need a little surgery,” the Laval resident said. If you apply patches for too long, you end up needing too much surgery and it’s too late.”
The Habs have fallen in their last four games. A sequence that allowed St-Louis to understand the gravity of the situation before his team had to be transferred to the intensive care unit.
Difficult exits
One of the problems to be solved is certainly the beginning of the game. The Habs are 27th overall with 15 goals allowed in the first period. Conversely, he only scored seven points, which puts him in 29th place.
A statistic that explains why Montreal hasn’t held the lead in a game since visiting the New Jersey Devils on October 24th. A six-game losing streak.
“Martin told us about it this morning,” Nick informed Suzuki. There were times when we won games without playing well in the first two periods. When we came back in the third period we felt better.”
Except that poor trick ended up catching the Canadian.
“We absolutely have to prevent something like this from happening again. It’s up to us to make sure of it. “We definitely have to be more attentive from the first throw-in,” said the captain.
Matheson’s problems
The Habs’ losing streak also coincides with the problems that Mike Matheson has been struggling with for four games. The problems arose after the game against the Jets, in which the defender appeared to be bothered by an injury.
“NO. “It’s fine,” the Pointe Claire athlete assured when asked about his health and whether he played despite perhaps not being 100% fit.
A contrary answer would have at least helped explain why he was on the ice for seven of the opposing team’s last 11 goals.
“Of course it’s difficult at the moment, but talking about it won’t change anything. The only answer is to work harder and do as much as possible to be ready for every game,” Matheson said.
“I always have confidence in my abilities. I have enough experience to know that we will get there in the end. Besides, I’ve seen worse and it happened again,” he continued.
Avoiding sinking into negativity is an aspect that will certainly help him get back on track. However, sometimes it’s easier said than done when you’re at a low point.
“He has to be committed and honest in his performance and in watching his game. You have to avoid looking back and concentrate on the next performance, explained St-Louis. I liked the rest of his game. He corrected himself. It’s encouraging.”
It remains to be seen whether the trend of the last two games against the Lightning will continue on Thursday evening in Detroit.