The most cynical expected to see Martin St-Louis praise the effort of his team and remind people that his players had never given up.
The Canadiens head coach seemed rather at the end of his tether after going through the full range of emotions following a 5-4 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.
During the match, the Montreal club fell behind 3-0 and 4-2. And it was this poor start to the match that caught the attention after the match.
St-Louis mainly talked about the errors in the first period and less about the spectacular comeback of his team, which snatched a point from a section rival.
“We committed too many turnovers, we made stupid mistakes — at our blue line and at theirs. Then we allowed a shorthanded goal, recalled captain Nick Suzuki. It was a bad first period on our part. »
“Yes, I liked how we fought. However, it’s difficult to win when you let the opponent play as if they were alone for 20 minutes,” he added.
St. Louis said too many players “weren’t ready” for the start of the game. Cole Caufield spoke of a “lack of preparation”.
The Canadian has scored the first goal only 8 times in 24 games this season. He scored 13 goals in the first period and allowed 22 to the opponent.
Mike Matheson pointed out that it was difficult to clearly explain how a team could play so poorly early in the game before managing to come from behind by playing more inspired hockey.
“If I think about my first seasons in the league, it’s not easy to play 82 games,” said the Montreal defender. It’s not easy to be ready for every match. It’s something that maybe we don’t talk about enough — how difficult it is. »
“As a young group, it might take us a little time. But it’s not a lack of will because everyone works very hard. »
The good news for the Canadiens players is that victory seems a little more important in the eyes of management and St-Louis this season.
St-Louis has sometimes left certain players out in the third period in recent weeks, when its team tried to come from behind or defend a lead.
On Saturday, he did not hesitate to change his new trios after 40 minutes of play in order to create a spark.
“As a coach, you try to find solutions in the heat of the moment. I made adjustments,” St-Louis said.
This attitude does not go unnoticed by the players, for whom it is more difficult to accept defeats during this phase of development with the Canadian.
“ [St-Louis] wants to win. We want to win. He’s going to put the guys on the ice who are going to get the job done,” Suzuki said. I like this. We are not just developing. We want to win. »
The Canadian has lost three of his last four matches (1-2-1). The team had a day off on Sunday. The Habs will host the Seattle Kraken on Monday evening at the Bell Center.