At one point, the Maple Leafs sent a multimillion-dollar power-play unit onto the ice, as the Canadiens responded with a shorthanded compound of, roughly, three American League guys.
It’s this end that best sums up Saturday’s game in Toronto, where the Canadian tried hard, but as we know, trying is often not enough. Because you also have to succeed, and the Canadian didn’t achieve much in this 5-1 loss, against the simply too strong Maple Leafs.
At the end of the evening in Toronto, Martin St-Louis recalled that the Canadian has “10 guys from the National League who are not playing” and who are, in other words, on the injured list. Which is true, but that doesn’t explain everything.
For example, why did Mike Hoffman, arriving almost alone in front of goalkeeper Joseph Woll, attempt a fake normally reserved for the weekend of the Stars to score a goal (he did not score, of course)? Why did Joel Armia, forgotten alone in front of this same Woll, fall asleep before receiving the perfect pass from Jonathan Drouin (he didn’t score either)? Why couldn’t Evgenii Dadonov take advantage of this other perfect pass from Drouin on the power play (no, no goal here either)? After all, we are talking about seasoned veterans, who should do better than that.
This club is no longer in the game, of course, but Martin St-Louis insists that the expectations remain the same.
“You have to keep the players engaged, you have to work on what you want to work on, and you have to build our brand, so to speak, explained the coach Montrealers. To continue on what we have built all season, to remain faithful to it. This is our goal. My expectations are for the way we play. It’s the way to measure success in the situation we are in.
“If we look back on the game in Carolina [jeudi soir], during the first two periods, we were in the game. Here, I really liked our premiere. They spent time in our zone, but we also spent time in their zone. We know we can play with everyone. [Si on] look at their first two goals, it jumps on our sticks, it happens. I feel that we are working well. »
Despite the injuries, despite the bad luck and everything, there is still a cold reality that stands before this club: the last two games have led to a combined score of 11-3 in favor of the opponents.
Remembering the good shots, the small victories, that’s good, but it’s a bit like saying that basically, when you think about it, Milli Vanilli still had a couple of good songs in her repertoire.
“I think we played well overall in the last two games,” replied Josh Anderson. We’re going to rethink all that, rethink what we need to do to get better results, and we’re going to continue our work. »
On this subject, it will be interesting to see who will have the opportunity to continue the adventure after March 3, the deadline for trade in the NHL. On the airwaves of Sportsnet on Saturday, it was suggested that ultimately, contrary to the hundred thousand rumors circulating on many sites that claim to know things, the management of the Canadian could be very quiet by this fateful date.
In the circumstances, indeed, this scenario seems plausible; we don’t trade an injured player, nor do we start swapping players when it’s hard to find people to complete the formation.
Jonathan Drouin, who had another good night – he had a total of seven shots on goal, a high among players on both teams – believes that there is still some light.
“We were in this game for a while, noted the Quebec forward. We felt good, it was 1-1… but we gave them too many chances to score. It’s a team that has too much talent, with high caliber scorers. In the last two games, we felt in the game, but both times, the opponent took advantage in the third period…”
The legendary Bill Parcells said it often: we are what our listing says we are. Well, on this late Saturday night in Toronto, the Canadiens arrived in 26e place in the overall NHL standings.
That’s what it is.
They said
We would have liked to play a better match, we didn’t know how to take advantage of our chances, and they were able to do it. That was the difference.
Josh Anderson
We knew they were going to arrive with energy, especially after the big transaction they were able to conclude on Friday. They were given too many chances to score, and such a team doesn’t need so many chances to score…
Jonathan Drouin
I liked our first half, and in the second I felt the game slipped our fingers. We missed chances, a lot of two against one, and we didn’t score.
Martin St Louis
In details
A first point with the Leafs for O’Reilly
Obtained the day before as part of the big three-team transaction that we know, Ryan O’Reilly ended up arriving on time Saturday night in Toronto, and he was able to take part in this match against the Canadian, his first in membership of the Maple Leafs. The veteran attacker, less bearded than before, was modestly applauded by the Toronto public during the presentations, before that same public fell back into a kind of sporadic sleep, as is often the custom around here. The former St. Louis Blues started the game at the center of the second line, along with Tavares and Marner, and then he got his first point in the maple leaf jersey, an assist on the third Leafs goal, Michael Bunting’s second of the night, scored in the second period.
Dach, Wideman and Monahan upstairs, on the gallery
Members of the media had company on Saturday night in Toronto, when the three absentees of the Canadiens for this match came to settle next door. Thus, we saw Kirby Dach, absent due to a virus, Chris Wideman, left out, and Sean Monahan, who is not really progressing in his attempt to return, according to what Martin St-Louis had hinted earlier. during the day. Corey Schueneman, recalled from the Laval Rocket on Saturday, took part in the game. His recall was necessary due to the injury to another defender, Arber Xhekaj, whose name has been placed on the injured list. Recall that Xhekaj left the Bell Center ice rink last Sunday pointing his right shoulder.
Scotiabank Arena: cold as a fridge
There are things that don’t change in life, and one of them is the atmosphere at Leafs games in Toronto. With the big transaction the day before, with a game in the middle of Saturday night against the rivals of Montreal, we could have expected a super noisy crowd, but no, it was not. At times, it was so quiet in the square that you could almost hear what the players were saying to each other from the heights of the building. Despite everything, Ryan O’Reilly enjoyed his first evening in the maple leaf jersey. “I found myself on the ice for the first face-off and I felt the energy of the crowd… It’s the Mecca of hockey here,” said the veteran forward after the game.