Canadian – Stars | CH clings to hope

(Dallas) The Canadian will start his year with the intention of ending his trip well.

Except for a brief return home for Christmas, the members of the CH have left since December 17. Since that date, they have played six games on enemy ice and they have collected 5 points out of a possible 12, including three defeats in a row, the last of which, that of December 31 against the Lightning in Tampa, by a mark of 4 -3.

It’s often at this point in the calendar that NHL clubs get down to business, and according to Josh Anderson, the Canadian is still in the game in this regard.

“All the matches become huge from now on,” explained the 29-year-old striker in Tampa on Sunday evening. We just lost three in a row, so the next game is important. But we know that we still have a lot of matches to play. We’re almost halfway through the calendar and we know how important what’s coming is to us. »

For now, what’s coming up is a meeting Tuesday evening with the Stars in Dallas, after which the members of the Montreal club will be able to return home to play five of their next six games in the comfort of the Bell Center.

Despite this 15-16-5 record, the Canadiens players are still clinging to hope, according to Samuel Montembeault.

Even if the Canadian begins this end of the trip and the start of 2024 with a 13^e place in the Eastern Association standings, with a delay of six points on the last place available for the playoffs, Martin St-Louis continues to believe that there is not much missing to allow his band to win these important matches, which can make the difference towards the end of the season.

Thus, following the last games in Florida, he often repeated that his team “was there”, in reference to a team which, in his eyes, remains competitive night after night, or almost.

After Sunday evening’s meeting in Tampa, the atmosphere was one of optimism, in a locker room where the players present were all ready to see the glass half full.

A bit like their coach.

“It’s been three games in a row that we’ve played against good teams, and each time, we’re there,” insisted Martin St-Louis before the late evening flight Sunday towards Texas. “We must continue like this. »

It remains to be seen if the Canadian will be able to cling to hope a little longer. The last three games have been lost to Carolina, Sunrise and Tampa by a combined score of 13-7, and as of 1^er January, the best counter of this team arrived at 53^e rank of scorers in the National Hockey League.

It turns out that Nick Suzuki, the player in question, is one of those who continues to believe in it.

“Because I think we played well during this trip,” explained the captain. We haven’t been able to pick up any wins recently, but we played well. So I hope there will be a good response from us in Dallas. »