Canadian 4 – Predators 3 (P) | After the exchanges, the dilemma

(Nashville) There are still three days left to wonder who the Canadian will or will not trade. Once this existential question is resolved, there will be another one that management will ask itself: what to do with Joshua Roy?

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When a player becomes the subject of this dilemma, it’s rarely good news. For Roy, on the contrary, it is very positive. And this rare 4-3 overtime victory for the Habs in Nashville on Tuesday undoubtedly further complicated his case.

It had already been in the air for a while, and Martin St-Louis confirmed it after the meeting: it would make sense for the CH to transfer Joshua Roy to the Laval Rocket to contribute to the push of the school club towards the American League playoffs. Several of the organization’s prospects are playing in Laval, and the prospect of a playoff experience would only be beneficial in their development.

However, the Canadian would cause himself two problems by doing so. On the one hand, the team would lose a forward who is perfectly in his place, at 20 years old, to the left of Alex Newhook and Joel Armia. And on the other hand, without saying that Roy has nothing more to learn in the American League, it would almost be a shame to see his meteoric progression in the NHL stop.

“His behavior on the ice” deepens this dilemma, underlined Martin St-Louis. “We are well aware that he could help Laval at the moment. You have to find the balance. How long to keep it here? How can we and Laval benefit from it? It’s good, because it forces us to find that balance. »

Against the Predators, Roy scored an important goal that tied the game at 3-3 and forced an overtime period. On this action, he stole the puck from Roman Josi in the neutral zone before beating Juuse Saros with a sharp shot. A big boy’s goal, in short.

What’s more, this entire trio (again) had a strong match. “It’s going really well, the three of them together,” said the young man. We create things offensively, there is a great chemistry that is established. […] Throughout the match we had chances, it was a matter of time before it went in. »

St-Louis also noted Roy’s great calm. “He’s not nervous,” he said. His experience on big stages, like at the World Juniors, means that he is not impressed or stressed by situations. »

“It’s fun to see them,” added David Savard.

This is precisely why management must worry about what to do with it.

Unequal duel

It wasn’t just this trio that played well, as the whole team defended quite well. In this sense, the victory was rather deserved, especially after CH erased two deficits.

What we felt afterwards was how much she was expected. In the corridor leading to the locker room, we could hear cries of joy. The music was blaring, it was a party.

“We could have won both games in Florida [deux défaites en tirs de barrage]. It feels good to be on the right side,” soberly declared Nick Suzuki, who gave victory to his team thanks to the 100^e goal of his career.

“The team needed it for morale,” admitted David Savard. We have to continue to collect points, to compete against good teams, and that’s what we did tonight. »

“I’m happy for the guys, they deserve it,” concluded Martin St-Louis. Smiling, he agreed, regarding Savard’s lucky goal, that “life balances things out sometimes.”

The only downside, and it’s not small: the performance of the first trio. The unit piloted by Nick Suzuki was devoured wholeheartedly by that of veterans Ryan O’Reilly, Gustav Nyquist and Filip Forsberg, of the Predators.

It was this trio who scored the locals’ three goals, each time at five against five, each time against Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. On the first two, the Slovak completely missed his coverage in front of the net. The head coach, obviously, did not have an overwhelming desire to discuss it. “I have to look [le match]. It’s a learning situation and we will correct it,” he limited himself to saying.

“It’s a really good line,” Suzuki continued. They see each other well, both offensively and defensively. They use their sticks well and play nice little games. This is an underrated line in the NHL. »

It’s also a combination that is brimming with experience, a luxury that the Habs’ three young attackers do not have. There are certain nights where this factor comes into play. It was one of those evenings.

But when said evening ends with a victory, especially against a team that has been invincible since mid-February, the mistakes seem a little less.

The result is not proof of everything, repeats Martin St-Louis on an almost daily basis. Sometimes it’s still timely.

In details

Luck smiles on Savard

Often this season, the Canadian seemed to be the victim of unfavorable leaps. The counters are now at zero. In the second period, when his team had barely reduced the gap to 2-1, David Savard scored possibly the strangest goal of the season – in any case the strangest of his career, he said. himself admitted. After Nick Suzuki won the faceoff at center ice, the defenseman cleared the puck from the red line. The disc rolled across the bay window before abruptly changing direction to slide gently into the Predators’ net, under the eyes of a Juuse Saros who was as helpless as he was disappointed. By scoring two goals in six seconds, CH scored one of its fastest doubles to date, tied for fourth in franchise history. The team record (2 seconds), set in November 2018, belongs to Max Domi and Joel Armia.

Double surprise: Harvey-Pinard… in the center!

We knew that his return was approaching, because he had resumed training with his teammates, but we did not expect Rafaël Harvey-Pinard so soon. The Quebecer returned to competition Tuesday evening in Nashville, a good week before what the Habs medical staff had planned. After suffering a “lower body” injury on Feb. 10, he was expected to miss four to six weeks, which would have put him through next week, at a minimum. On his return, the striker was neither spectacular nor bad, curiously employed in the center in the absence of Colin White (see the following capsule). A good reminder that this is not his usual position: he lost all five faceoffs for which he was designated.

Injuries again

If Harvey-Pinard found himself in the center, it was because Colin White was injured the day before in training by accidentally rushing into the net. The club first indicated on Tuesday morning that its case was being reassessed “day by day”; then, during the warm-up period, his name was added to the injured list. This administrative procedure allowed the CH to activate Harvey-Pinard, which was until then on the same list. Barring an upset, we can expect the team to still deal with only three natural centers in its next game, Thursday in Carolina. Because with a full roster of 23 players, as is currently the case, he will not be able to recall a center from the Laval Rocket without removing another name from his squad. Fascinating.

Rising

Joel Armia

It continues for him. Without obtaining a point, he again delivered a good performance, once again displaying his exploits in puck protection. He also had four shot attempts.

Falling

Kaiden Guhle

Nothing is easy for him or his partner Mike Matheson. He found himself on the ice for two Predators goals, and again for the one they were denied late in the game.

The number of the match

2

This is the number of fights Josh Anderson has had since the start of 2024, following his skirmish with Luke Schenn. It is also his number of goals in the same interval.