(Mont-Tremblant) Since the start of the preseason calendar, no team has played more often on the power play than the Canadian. Eight and a half minutes per game on average, far ahead of the approximately five minutes last year in the regular season.
The Habs are also one of only two teams to have been shut out in this regard in five exhibition matches. Let us be clear, there is no panic here, especially since the counters will be reset at the start of the real campaign. Certain elements, however, deserve attention.
We will not draw any conclusions from CH’s failures when players like Florian Xhekaj (5 min 37 s), Filip Mesar (5 min 18 s) or Sean Farrell (8 min 10 s) were on the ice. We nevertheless note that Mike Matheson, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky spent almost 15 minutes together on the ice on the power play, while only scoring seven shots.
Seven of these minutes were played with Kirby Dach as fifth companion, in what will certainly be the first wave of the start of the season. This combination generated just four shots on target and just 0.15 expected goals, according to the website Natural Stat Trick. We might as well say practically nothing, the result of a cohesion which is visibly slow to take hold.
“We didn’t play [ensemble] since April, argued Mike Matheson on Friday after his club’s training in Mont-Tremblant. We will continue to work on this. But it’s a little early to say that it’s not clicking. »
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Mike Matheson
The fact is that the CH modified its main tactical plan with an extra man. Nick Suzuki, for example, was moved to the left flank, abandoning the position near the right strip that he had occupied for a long time in recent years.
“We’re trying to do something completely different,” Matheson rightly argued, adding, without targeting his captain, that “it takes time [avec] people in places they are not used to.”
“The readings are different,” he said again.
Raised on the fact that the quartet mentioned above essentially spent the entire second half of the season together last year, the defender offered a nuance by mentioning that it was “only one year”.
“Look at Tampa, with Steven Stamkos, it’s been 10 years since [l’avantage numérique] worked together. Washington and Pittsburgh are almost 15 years. This is not an excuse, and we will continue to get there as quickly as possible. »
“But it takes time,” he repeated.
Few exercises
It not only takes time, but also “rehearsals”, Cole Caufield had warned the day before. “It’s ongoing work,” he explained. It’s all about synchronism. Having repetition helps us find ourselves. »
The dynamic crowd present at the two public training sessions held in Mont-Tremblant, Thursday and Friday, however witnessed a large number of zero special units exercises. The coaching staff in place places great importance on video sessions. Except in matches, “rehearsals” have so far been limited.
Martin St-Louis again indicated on Friday that his priority during training camp had been playing without the puck, both in the defensive zone and in the neutral zone and on the forecheck, as well as execution at five on five. With only two goals allowed in this phase of play in five matches, CH was also the poorest team in the league in the preparatory calendar.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The head coach of the Canadiens, Martin St-Louis
This does not prevent the club from concluding the last season at 27e rank on the power play. After the trade of Sean Monahan in early February, Montreal’s massive offense produced at a rate of just 13.2%, in 31e circuit location.
At the 2024 camp, “we attacked things chronologically,” said the head coach. Is this an indicator of where the power play is on his priority list? Without answering it directly, he indicated that this aspect would be on the schedule “probably Monday or Tuesday, on the ice and on video”, adding that “the end of things [au camp]it was the offensive side, and the numerical advantage is part of it.”
His men particularly sweated on Friday, notably during a long skating exercise at the end of the session. It was not to punish them, far from it. However, “after yesterday’s team dinner, it was important to get that out a bit,” noted St-Louis with a smile.
In this regard, “when you just play the numerical advantage, you don’t check the most important box.”
He did not detail the “box” he had in mind. Eliminating some toxins, however, seemed to be part of it.