Lightning 7 – Canadian 4 | A reminder of the road ahead

The Canadian is eliminated.

It has been for a long time, you might say, but this time, it’s officially official. Following this 7-4 defeat at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, the ranking suggests that the CH could still join the last team qualified for the playoffs, but since several teams in the peloton will face each other between within two weeks, the last paid level will become unattainable.

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This formality, in any case, is insignificant. It was clear for a long time that this day would come. So whether it’s today, yesterday or tomorrow doesn’t change anything.

Martin St-Louis recognized that as a player or as a coach, this precise moment is never pleasant. But as a fan of the glass half full, he quickly pointed out that he had seen “so much positive” and “progression” within his troops that he preferred to keep the successes in mind.

We will not organize a funeral for his club’s season, he insisted, but rather a “celebration of life”. Even if, “mentally”, it’s never fun to think about seeing you next year. “We continue,” he summarized.

This progression, we have had time to say and repeat over the last 75 matches, is real in several respects, especially on an individual level.

Juraj Slafkovsky became an NHL player, and Nick Suzuki a high-quality offensive center. Cole Caufield, if we ignore his disappointing goal haul, has added strings to his bow. Kaiden Guhle, who was also injured on Thursday, continued to establish himself as a reliable and versatile defender. Samuel Montembeault confirmed his status as number one goalkeeper. Joel Armia has rediscovered his taste for playing hockey. And so on.

On a collective level, progress is more abstract. And the duel against the Lightning provided us with a striking reminder of this.

At five against five, the visitors did not exert total domination, at least not during the entire meeting. However, their ability to strike hard when the opponent lets their guard down was enough for them.

Gap

A recurring theme in recent weeks for the Canadians has been the narrowing of the gap separating this team from the leading clubs. We have indeed witnessed very honest, sometimes even surprising, opposition against serious contenders for the Stanley Cup – the Edmonton Oilers, the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers.

The Montrealers even managed to extract a few victories during these tough duels. But to get there, there still needs to be a certain alignment of the stars. In disorder: an impeccable performance from the goalkeeper, an intractable numerical disadvantage, organized play at even strength, especially in the neutral zone and in the defensive zone, and why not a boost from the numerical advantage.

Absolutely none of those boxes were checked on Thursday. And the Lightning, in the words of Martin St-Louis, “smelled blood.”

It was particularly difficult in the second half, during which Jon Cooper’s men scored four goals. On two of those, Steven Stamkos, first, and Nikita Kucherov, then, were left in front of the net, taking advantage of all the time in the world to unleash powerful one-timers. This is not ideal.

St-Louis spoke of one of the worst periods of the season, and felt, since this type of collapse rarely occurs, that clear conclusions should not be drawn from it. “I see this period as an exception, not the norm,” he said. Still, “it’s boring when it happens.” That’s saying something.

There is however, at the risk of repeating ourselves, a reminder that despite all the progress we have made, there is still a long way to go before we become like the leading clubs – the Lightning, let’s say.

“We know we have to give even more to improve,” admitted Mike Matheson. But I think we continue to show that we are closer than people think or what the results show. The difference [avec les équipes dominantes]it is their ability to remain constant for 60 minutes. [Les joueurs du Lightning] showed it to us this evening. »

This type of match constitutes “a big test” in the eyes of Juraj Slafkovsky, who aspires for his team to resemble the Stamkos, Kucherov, Point and their friends. “If we are given what we gave them, we want to do the same thing,” he illustrated. It was good for us to see them go, but it’s not fun to play against them. »

“We have to see the positive,” insisted David Savard. We are able to play five against five. When we play our game, we can compete against any team. Tonight, we didn’t give ourselves any chances, taking bad penalties or making bad plays. »

We come back to it. The famous gap can only be closed if the winning conditions are met. Until they do, night after night, month after month, the seasons will end like this. Through a funeral or a celebration of life, whichever name you prefer to use. But not a premature death nonetheless.

Rising: Brendan Gallagher

He had two assists and had perhaps the best scoring chances at five-on-five on his club. His trio with Alex Newhook and Joel Armia is still on the honor roll.

Declining: The numerical disadvantage

Dominant in recent weeks, this squad gave in twice, almost three times since Brandon Hagel scored while Mike Matheson barely came out of the penalty box.

In details

Heavy losses on both sides

Kaiden Guhle’s evening at work was short-lived. From his second presence, the defender was the victim of a solid check from Nikita Kucherov. His head slammed against the bay window and he remained lying on the ice rink for a long time, before retreating to the locker room. The Canadian announced, without much surprise, an upper body injury for number 21. The team has training off on Friday, so we will have to wait until Saturday morning to find out if it was just a scare or s he will have to be absent. With the Rocket in the midst of a playoff race, it is logical to believe that the Habs would be content to employ Johnathan Kovacevic as a sixth defenseman, without drawing on their home club. The Lightning lost two soldiers, two attackers who were members of their core. Anthony Cirelli first raised the white flag. At the start of the match, he was tackled by Jayden Struble in front of the Tampa net, but nevertheless made several appearances afterwards. “He got knocked out and we’re getting to the point where we have to be careful and not risk anything, so we took him out of the match,” Jon Cooper simply said, without specifying whether the injury was the result of the fight with Struble . Then, at the end of the match, Brandon Hagel was the victim of an accidental collision with his captain, Steven Stamkos. Hagel has 70 points in 76 games this season.

When the Art-Ross Trophy is a goal

Nikita Kucherov got his money’s worth in his last shift of the game, which lasted 2:12. The Canadian had pulled his goalie and was attacking with six skaters, and on the other side, with the two aforementioned losses, Cooper finished the match with 10 attackers. His options were limited. “To play 5-on-6, you have to be smart,” Cooper recalled. I firmly believe Kuch could play shorthanded, but you have to manage his minutes and make sure he doesn’t play too much. But he’s so intelligent, it’s easy to send him to 5 against 6.” On the goal scored into an empty net, Kucherov also made the right play by settling for a pass by the boards to Stamkos . But previously, we saw him performing near the offensive blue line on a few occasions. Which brings us to our second point: the Art Ross Trophy. Kucherov won it in 2019 and with now 133 points he comes in 1^er rank in the NHL, three points ahead of Nathan MacKinnon. Some coaches play down the importance of individual honors, but not Cooper. “It’s very hard to win individual trophies. I truly believe that if a player gives himself for the team and is recognized for his individual achievements, it shows that he is a superstar. Kucherov transported the team. Is he our most valuable player? No doubt, especially with the absences of Vasilevskiy and Sergachev. »

Everyone has their own strength

The best lines bring together players with complementary qualities and this is partly what explains the success of the unit of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. In just one game, all three young players demonstrated these qualities. Slafkovsky, the Averell Dalton of the group, came to the corner and used his big frame to protect the puck against two colossi, Nick Paul and Emil Lilleberg. Meanwhile, Suzuki, the Joe Dalton of his unit, was crafty as always. He saw Slafkovsky engage in this struggle and quickly headed behind the net to become a passing option for Slafkovsky, while spotting Cole Caufield racing towards the slot. Then, Caufield, who is William or Jack Dalton, your choice, brought out his sniper skills to complete the maneuver.