Martin St-Louis’ philosophy is to look at the glass half full. It’s in his nature. But he knows there aren’t too many drops in his glass of water anymore when he thinks about the offensive production of his forwards, the worst in the NHL.
CH comes in 32nd place for goals scored by attackers. After 28 games, the Habs’ attackers have scored only 52 goals. The San Jose Sharks (55 goals) and the Chicago Blackhawks (60) complete the top three when you look at the standings in reverse.
From a glass-half-full perspective, the Canadian finds himself second in the NHL for goals scored by his defenders (21).
• Read also: The reason for the problems of the Canadiens’ attackers analyzed
At a press conference after a training session of around sixty minutes, St-Louis addressed the subject of the lack of finishing of its attackers. In his eyes, there is a fairly simple solution: go “inside”.
“We have to play inside a little more, there is too much on the perimeter,” replied St-Louis. I like the time we spend in the offensive zone, but we should be able to generate more goals.
The message from St-Louis therefore consists of rushing towards the net, recovering returns, redirecting pucks, obstructing the goalie’s view and creating confusion. But it doesn’t happen by magic. It takes determination too.
For Brendan Gallagher who always has his nose in traffic, there are also several players who like this role less.
“It’s not as easy to convince them, but we have to continue to convince them to go deeper,” admitted St-Louis. It’s not inside with the puck, but anticipating when to go. And it’s not about being there early and staying there, but about going when it’s time. Teams that are dangerous, they manage to anticipate well and they come in [à l’intérieur] with rhythm. They can collect pucks and touch others on the fly. Players with skills like to stay outside with the puck. But the game is also played without the puck and you have to go inside to score.”
Education
Tied for the team lead with Sean Monahan with eight goals, Nick Suzuki spoke at length about St. Louis’ message.
“We know we have to go inside,” Suzuki said. It was a big portion of the exercises in training. You have to have players in the slot, redirect pucks and generate more offense.”
Suzuki wasn’t surprised when he was reminded that his team was last in the NHL in goals scored by forwards.
“I don’t worry about it too much,” he said. There are times when strikers can have problems scoring goals. Several of our attackers have gone through droughts. It’s not a lack of opportunity. It’s good to see our defenders get goals, but we attackers will have to help too.”
There are shortages, but there is also a lack of raw talent on offense. With the injuries to Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook, the Habs give the feeling of a team that does not have a second line. And there isn’t a super star to carry the offense on his shoulders.
A statistical anomaly
On paper, CH is one of three teams in the circuit without any scorer of 10 goals or more.
Photo Martin Chevalier
In theory, Caufield should be the offensive engine. But he only has seven goals in 28 games. He only hit the target seven times out of 104 shots for a success rate of 6.7%. The number 22 is far from his average last year of 16.8% (26 goals in 158 shots) and that of two years ago of 12.2% (23 goals in 188 shots).
“For me, it’s an anomaly with Cole, it will eventually even out,” Suzuki noted. A player always returns to his average. He will take a shot at an opposing defender to score or he will attempt a pass and score. Cole remains a born scorer. I’m not worried about him, he just needs to keep a positive attitude.”