Sabers 6 – Canadian 1 | Where there is no progress

When the Canadian’s numerical advantage is down, we systematically hear the good joke that, like in American football, it should be allowed to decline a penalty. We then burst out laughing, we watch two long minutes of sterile play then we repeat the same joke at the next opportunity.

Is there an equivalent quip for an anemic penalty kill? Let’s say when a unit gives in three times out of ten, sometimes more during certain particularly difficult sequences?

If a fine witticism came to mind, we would have ample opportunity to rehearse it by watching the Flannel, who again gave up twice short of a man against the Buffalo Sabers, Thursday evening, in a embarrassing 6-1 loss.

A little less than a month ago, The Press had focused on the dismal numerical disadvantage of the CH. “It doesn’t work,” Johnathan Kovacevic coldly analyzed, who explained his team’s difficulties in effectively applying the “diamond” scheme, although it is very widespread in the league.

The defender said: “The trend started six or seven games ago. [Nos adversaires] started exposing us with plays down low, where they were given too much space. »

The Canadian has now played 13 since Kovacevic’s remark. Adding the “six or seven” that he had mentioned, it would therefore be around twenty games that the gap has been known. This same gap that the Sabers exploited twice in less than two minutes. On their first goal, Jeff Skinner had something like 127 hours to plan his crosscourt pass to Casey Mittelstadt. On their second, the exchange between Alex Tuch and Skinner was quicker, but the scenario was the same: the two Sabers forwards had all the space they wanted to work at their ease near the net defended by poor Jake Allen .

Errors and communication

After the meeting, Martin St-Louis was decidedly not talkative – his entire press briefing, in French and English, lasted three and a half minutes.

He attributed these two shorthanded goals to “individual errors”.

The answer would be satisfactory if it were an accident. However, we find several variations in the club’s latest matches.

At Sunrise last Saturday, Eetu Luostarinen took advantage of a good three seconds in possession of the puck to advance to the net and score.

And it’s not like the bottom of the enclave is the only point of vulnerability for this unit. She concedes many, many goals.

Against the Sabres, it was the fourth time in ten games that the opponent won twice on the power play.

Now here is the Canadian at 31^e rank in the league shorthanded, by virtue of a starving performance of 72.1%. A success rate (the word is strong) similar to that of the last season.

“We are chasing consistency,” said Martin St-Louis. There are matches where we are very good. This evening, we weren’t there. »

In the eyes of Jordan Harris, the problem lies mainly in communication. He too has noticed “problems” when the other team “sends two guys to the goal line.” “We work on that in training,” he assured. We pay attention to all the details. »

Stagnation

More generally, Sean Monahan recognized that his club had to “be better at keeping the puck out of the goal”. “We have to find ways to place our sticks to block access” to the net, he said.

David Savard, one of the players most in demand in these circumstances, also pointed out the “individual errors which snowball”. “We will look at what we are doing wrong and we will continue to learn,” he added. He also definitely didn’t want to improvise a TED talk on the issue.

However, the stakes are high. Because in this season where progress is on everyone’s lips, and is sometimes observed in micro details, the trend is obvious: as the halfway point approaches, the numerical disadvantage, at best, stagnates.

Martin St-Louis admitted, in an interview with Sportsnet before the start of the season, that he had neglected the power play last year. He hadn’t made it a priority, he said, because the team was “not ready to win.”

Since the start of this campaign, the power play has received some love. And things are a little better, despite the absences of Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook, two obvious contributions in this phase of play.

In the long list of injured CH, only Rafaël Harvey-Pinard appears as a four-on-five specialist. We could now add Christian Dvorak. So it’s hard to blame the infirmary.

Perhaps the fundamental problem lies in the existing staff and their ability to adapt? Perhaps it is also in its preparation and supervision? Maybe it’s a bit of all that.

Either way, the problem is real. And screaming. And it costs matches.

Rising

Jake Allen

This is not a joke. He kept his teammates in the game for two periods, and they abandoned him in the third. Despite the high score, we honestly cannot blame him for the defeat.

Falling

Johnathan Kovacevic

When you are the extra defender, you are already skating on thin ice. So when you also experience a difficult exit, the room for maneuver is also very slim. No presence in the third period.

The number of the match

5 min 35 sec

That’s how much time remained on the clock when Martin St-Louis called his goalie back to the bench in the hope that his club would reduce the deficit to 4-1. By the time you blinked, it was 5-1. The Dallas Stars don’t want him.