The Canadian | In search of the perfect match

(Brossard) The good news is that the Canadian’s five-on-four game will probably be better during the coming season.

Because it would be difficult to do worse. Last season, the Canadian’s numerical advantage finished at 27^e rank on the circuit in this regard, with a success rate of 17.5%. Only five other clubs have done worse in this aspect of the game in 2023-24 in the NHL.

But there is perhaps hope, because now the Canadian wants to tune his violins in another way.

Thus, during Friday’s training in Brossard, Martin St-Louis deployed the two units that could change everything this season. For the moment, the Canadian’s first power play group is made up of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Kirby Dach, Juraj Slafkovsky and Mike Matheson. The second group includes Brendan Gallagher, Joshua Roy, Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook and Lane Hutson.

We must therefore understand that the Canadian is looking for the perfect agreement five against four, and then, moreover, Martin St-Louis himself chose to move on to the musical metaphor on this beautiful Friday.

“We have more choices this season,” explained the Montreal coach in Brossard. We have more depth, it gives us more options. There is no formula, the guys have to be on the same wavelength. It’s like an orchestra; there are the different instruments, they know when it is their turn to play, what rhythm to use. It takes time to build that, and we’re in there a little bit…”

We must also understand that we do not build a numerical advantage in just a few repetitions, and on this subject, the Canadian has chosen this season to tackle the five-on-four game a lot more quickly.

“It wasn’t a priority, but it’s important now,” said defenseman Mike Matheson. The game is five-on-five and we can’t just rely on five-on-four, but we also need the numerical advantage to help us win games.

“We spent a lot of time last season focusing a lot on our five-on-five game, and now we’re trying to improve in another facet of the game. It’s a normal progression for us, we’re at that point. to a point where you have to start taking more time to improve at five-on-four. »

There will obviously be evenings when the Canadiens players go looking for each other, without really knowing who is doing what.

“We have to get to know each other and we hope that we will be a little better in this aspect of the game this time,” replied Kirby Dach. We have a lot of good players, we have players who have skills, and I thought both units looked good in training. We know that you have to score on the power play to get into the rhythm of a game, and I think our two units can do that.

“It takes a little time to get to know each other and to know where the puck is going to go when we put ourselves in a surplus situation like that… we are building something good, and I believe that it will be pleasant. »

Now all these beautiful people will have to learn to play together, and then if it works, who knows? The Canadian could very well compose some beautiful symphonies. What if it doesn’t work? It could be like the Guns ‘N’ Roses concert at the Olympic Stadium in 1992.

Patrik Laine didn’t seem to worry too much about the details and who is going to do what.

“I don’t really care about all that… the important thing is that we can score! »