(Sunrise) During the day, the Canadiens players went to the beach. In the evening, they skated like a team that still thought it was at the beach.
Updated yesterday at 11:22 p.m.
We play like we train, they say in the sports world, and the Canadian made a fabulous show of it Tuesday night at Sunrise, in a 7-4 loss to the Florida Panthers.
This is not to criticize or even question the therapeutic capacities of the beach, a place of serenity where it is certainly possible to accomplish great things; moreover, Louis Pasteur would have written his Memory on the fermentation called lactic at the beach, rumor has it. If it’s good for Louis Pasteur, it’s good for the Canadiens.
But the problem with the beach is that it gives a taste of vacation, a taste of letting go, and then there you go, if we make the exception of a few good minutes during the second period, that’s mainly what looked like the Canadiens players on Tuesday night: like guys on vacation.
“I would still say that there is a big difference between our game right now and our game a month ago, replied defender Joel Edmundson. We can see it, no matter the number of goals we may have allowed the opponent, no matter the gap, we don’t give up. No one is going to give up in this locker room. »
This is often what we repeat in the world of the Canadian these days: we did not let go. Which is true, by the way, because this version of the club never gives up and always refuses to abdicate.
It was this intensity that we saw in the second period, when the club managed three goals in a row (on just five shots, thank you, Sergei Bobrovsky), to at least offer some form of opposition to the Panthers, who were quite alone on the ice before this sudden awakening.
Evenings like that, there will be others, and that’s the price to pay when you choose to do what the Canadian is doing right now, that is to say a kind of construction in sight of a better future.
Much better.
“It’s a great opportunity to grow when you have to face good teams like the Panthers,” explained coach Martin St-Louis. We managed to put ourselves in a good position by starting the third period with a score of 4-4. Then we have to find the answers. We’ll find them and move on to Carolina.
“It’s a challenge to play against the best teams in the league like the Panthers. You have to make sure to respect them, but also not to be afraid of them, and finally to be ready. We were ready to play this game. We didn’t execute our plays as we wanted, it’s a bit our fault, but you also have to know how to recognize the talent of the other team. So that’s a bit of all of that. Coaches, we will watch the game again on video, we will try to find the answers and then communicate all that to the players. »
Which brings us back to construction. It’s not easy, it takes time, and games like this, where there is trial and error, where there are good moments here and there, but no victory, there will be others.
Let’s take a look at the case of Justin Barron, for example. He is called to become a good defender in this league, but in the meantime, he is a young man in a learning period, and that gives what we saw on Tuesday night. He still took the opportunity to collect an assist on Edmundson’s goal, his first point in the NHL.
Martin St-Louis will stay the course. “There are always lessons to be learned from defeat,” he added.
Which is very true, and then, to quote Axl Rose, all it’s going to take is a little patience. Because the road to the top is long, and above all, it is far from easy like a day at the beach.
In details
Evans on the sidelines
PHOTO SAM NAVARRO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Jake Evans (71) returning to the bench, accompanied by Joel Edmundson (44)
The Canadian hasn’t been lucky in the injury department this season, and that bad luck continued Tuesday night at Sunrise. This time, it was Jake Evans who suffered a bad twist of fate by giving violently against the boards towards the end of the third period, when defenseman MacKenzie Weegar was chasing him. Evans struggled to his feet and did not return afterward. The good news despite everything: at the end of the evening, the Canadian let it be known that the state of health of the young striker was going to be assessed on a daily basis, which suggests that it is not too serious. “When you see a game like that, you stop breathing a little bit,” said Martin St-Louis about the collision. It’s not easy to watch a player give against the board at that speed. »
Jordan Harris is in the place
No, he didn’t play Tuesday night, but Jordan Harris is getting ready to play his first game with the Canadiens. The young defenseman, fresh from NCAA college hockey, took part in the pre-game warm-up at Sunrise, and he is expected to participate in a first full practice with the rest of the team Wednesday at noon in Raleigh. Then, the 21-year-old defender should play a first match. Coach Martin St-Louis explained that there is “a plan” already in place regarding who will wear the jersey at number 54. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to see Harris in the lineup by the end of this trip, which the Canadian must complete with two other stops, Thursday evening in Carolina against the Hurricanes and Saturday evening in Tampa Bay, when the club will visit the Lightning. “He’s a good young man, we took him to dinner with us [et Christian Dvorak] Monday night, said defenseman Joel Edmundson. He’s enthusiastic, and I think the fans are too. We can’t wait to see him in training with us soon. »
A record for Huberdeau
PHOTOJIM RASSOL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jonathan Huberdeau (11) beats goaltender Jake Allen (34) during the third period.
Jonathan Huberdeau finished the game with three points, as did Sam Bennett and Ryan Lomberg. But in the case of the Quebec player, what we remember from this evening of two goals and an assist is the assist. Because it is for him a 70and assists this season, tying Joé Juneau for most assists by a left winger in a season; Juneau had 70 assists in 1992-93 for the Boston Bruins. Too bad Huberdeau reached that plateau in front of such bare bleachers, since there were rows and rows of empty benches at Sunrise on a hot Tuesday night. In the end, and according to the official statistics sheet of the NHL, this match was presented in front of a crowd of 15,587 spectators, a very generous figure according to our personal estimate.
They said
It’s a tough trip, against some really good teams, but yeah, we’re excited to play these games. For us, there is no better challenge. We have to start each meeting well and make life difficult for them. We can stand up to any team, but we have to do better.
Joel Edmundson
I think we learned that we can win against everyone, it’s the confidence we have had since the last month compared to the start of the season. You can compete with anyone and win matches.
Laurent Dauphin
There were times in the season when we were stuck in a hole, and we didn’t feel able to get out of it. With the new coaches, with the good players, the atmosphere has changed, we can come back from our mistakes.
Nick Suzuki
I liked our first half, maybe not the start, but we were tiring for 10 minutes and difficult to face. The second was difficult, but we had a very good end to the period. We fought, that’s what I like. We didn’t have the third period we wanted… They seemed faster than us on the ice, they forced us to do a lot of turnovers.
Martin St Louis
Rising
Laurent Dauphin
PHOTO SAM NAVARRO, USA TODAY SPORTS
Laurent Dauphin (45)
A goal, an assist, and very smart play in general. One of his good performances this season.
Falling
Mike Hoffman
A turnaround machine. There are no other words.
The number
5
The number of CH shots in the second period… and three of those shots ended up in the back of the net.