(Calgary) Jayden Struble’s purgatory was short-lived. The defender will return to the Canadiens’ lineup on Saturday, for the duel against the Flames at the Saddledome.
Struble was left out Thursday against Toronto. This time, he will come back to the detriment of Johnathan Kovacevic.
It was Stéphane Robidas, defenders coach, who met the media on Saturday morning, rather than Martin St-Louis. In a press scrum at the hotel where the team is staying, Robidas came to the defense of his young protégé.
“Jayden doesn’t need to do things differently,” Robidas said. It’s his first pro year, he played in college, he has to deal with the schedule, the travel. The first year, for a guy coming out of college, it’s difficult. He played well, it’s a nice surprise for us this season. He has a good physique, good skating, he defends well, good stick, good first pass, calm with the puck. These are all things we love. »
The fact remains that the encouraging performances of his first weeks in the NHL seemed a distant memory recently. Since the All-Star break, Struble has been at the back of the pack among the Canadiens among the main leading indicators available to the public (accessible thanks to our friends at Natural Stat Trick).
For the ratio of shot attempts at 5 on 5, the CH displays 43.4% when Struble is on the ice; only Tanner Pearson and Jesse Ylönen perform worse. He is last in the ratio of expected goals (40.7%) and scoring chances (39.5%). It is only in goals (9 goals scored, 10 goals allowed) that he looks better.
The ups and downs, “that’s for all the players,” recalled Robidas. Look at Ovechkin, we thought he was no longer able to count. All players have ups and downs. The teams too. It’s no different for young players. But when you’re young [qui tente de s’établir], it’s you who takes the blame. But it’s not alarming. »
The volume of matches, highlighted by Robidas, is undoubtedly not unrelated to the variations in Struble’s performance. By combining his stays in Laval and Montreal, the American will compete on Saturday in his 56e match of the season. Last year, he totaled 42 at Laval and Northeastern, and in the three previous years, he had never played more than 34, due to the reduced university schedule, as well as his injuries and the pandemic.
Disadvantage bursts
The Canadian arrives in the former Olympic city with the best penalty kill in the NHL since February 26, at 96.2%. All this against the Flames, holders of 31e numerical advantage (14.1%).
Recently questioned about this statistic, St-Louis jokingly redirected the questions to Robidas, the main person in charge of these units. Robidas was not there that day, so his presence on Saturday allowed the subject to be broached.
To our great disappointment, the Sherbrookois did not arrive with the duo-tang of the Habs’ playing patterns and other strategic orientations.
“We try to improve things here and there. We felt that we were not as aggressive and that if F1 [l’attaquant qui joue le plus haut] was more aggressive, that would help. The others must be connected with the F1. »
Robidas, however, had good words for Joel Armia, one of the pillars of the disadvantage. He and Jake Evans are, by far, the most used forwards in this phase of the game. “He covers a lot of space with his size and his reach. He is good at putting pressure in their zone. In the last game against Boston, he was able to spend 20 or 30 seconds just by putting pressure on,” the assistant emphasized.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Joel Armia
Robidas also recalled that he is not alone in managing numerical inferiority. “I always watch my things with Trevor [Letowski, un autre adjoint], we look at our last match and the next opponent. Martin arrives later and we watch it together. Even Alex Burrows gives us some insight into what’s difficult for his power play. It’s a collaboration. »
Cayden Primeau will defend the Montreal net for the first game of a five-game trip. It will be his second start in five days, his shortest gap between two starts this season.
Even if it takes place in the shadow of the Rockies, the game will start at 7 p.m. Eastern time, so at 5 p.m. in Calgary, which could help Tanner Pearson’s gang combat the delay. “You just have to tell yourself that it’s a 7 p.m. game and it’s business as usual,” recalled Mike Matheson.