Sean Monahan is gone, but life goes on or rather, “the league goes on” as Martin St-Louis repeated Monday noon.
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For the Canadian, the continued league means a departure for Washington, where he will face the Capitals on Tuesday evening. Obviously, since Monahan occupied several roles within the Montreal team, the task definition of several of his former teammates may be somewhat modified.
A situation which perfectly suits this other dear expression of the head coach of the Habs: a replacement “by committee”.
Nick Suzuki and Jakes Evans, already stuck in terms of minutes of use, will hardly be able to provide more effort than what they are currently doing.
“I don’t know if Suzy will get more responsibility. We can’t put it only on his shoulders, St-Louis agreed. It could happen that he takes throw-ins on the left more often. But other players will have to put their shoulder to the wheel [stepper up].”
“We’re going to have reinforcements soon,” added St-Louis, speaking of the imminent return of Alex Newhook (possibly during the weekend).
Pearson on the first unit
Until then, Tanner Pearson will be in a little more demand. At Monday’s training, he took Monahan’s place as the center of the first unit. The 31-year-old striker does not necessarily find himself in unfamiliar territory since this is the mandate he usually occupies on the second unit.
“In this position, I am not as patient as Mony. I have more of a shooter mentality,” Pearson said.
Aware that playing with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Mike Matheson presents a slightly different challenge, he acknowledges that he will have to make some adjustments.
“I will have to ask them questions, ask them where they want me in very specific situations. I have to read them well, but not try to do too much,” said the former Kings and Canucks player.
Despite the announced reinforcements, Evans must absolutely seize the opportunity offered to him if he wishes to prove that he is worth more than just the role of fourth line player. He has 33 games left to do it.
Moreover, he himself is not entirely satisfied with the offensive game he has deployed since St-Louis offered him a promotion to one of the first units.
“I would like to enjoy it a little more. There were matches where I was disappointed with my creativity in attack. I have to find a way to be more consistent in this aspect of the game,” he stressed.
Montembeault, player of the month
It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds on Tuesday in Washington. Will Brandon Gignac and Lucas Condotta both be in the lineup? Will St-Louis favor a formation with eleven attackers and seven defenders?
Getty Images via AFP
One thing is certain: it is Samuel Montembeault who will face the shots of Alex Ovechkin and his gang. Since the Christmas break, the masked man from Bécancour has seen action in practically one match out of two.
Moreover, his efforts over the last month were rewarded since he won the Molson Cup for the month of January.
In seven games, he maintained a goals against average of 3.50 and an efficiency rate of .909, in addition to a record of 4-2-1.
One might wonder if this is a good sign. During this period, Montembeault, among other things, faced barrages of 48, 41 and 46 shots. He won two of those games and suffered an overtime loss in the other.
“If I had received so many shots without us winning the matches, I might not have won the cup. That means the guys did a good job scoring goals. Some nights, they scored three or four goals when I was in front of the net,” said Montembeault, a good player.
Still, with all the shots he’s receiving, he fully deserves the salary increase he will receive starting next year.