Martin St-Louis will certainly not begin to publicly identify which players he considers to be “passengers” on his team. The fact remains that Mike Hoffman returns to the bleachers. He will be left out this Thursday evening for the third time in four games.
Against the Nashville Predators, the Canadian will use a rare formation with 11 attackers and 7 defenders. Justin Barron will therefore return to the game, while Michael Pezzetta will skip his turn.
“The performance of the players speaks to us; that’s where we are right now,” St-Louis replied when asked what message he wanted to send to Hoffman. The latter had a lackluster performance at best against the Seattle Kraken on Monday, fresh off a two-game absence. He’s been limited to one goal and two assists in his last 12 games.
“Things can change quickly, nuanced the head coach. He will have his chance to come back. St-Louis has also “raised [son] hats off to Hoffman’s “attitude” and work when left out.
Samuel Montembeault will get a second straight start in net.