(Los Angeles) There are players who hide behind reasons and excuses, but clearly Sean Monahan is not one of those players.
As the Canadian left sunny California for gray Columbus on Monday morning in Los Angeles, Monahan was invited to talk about his game and he didn’t hold back.
“I have to be better,” he admitted at the end of the Canadian’s training Monday morning in the suburbs of Los Angeles. “Our trio, we had ups and downs. We have to play better than that, and as a center player, it starts with me. I’m a proud player and I have to be better than that. »
Best how? Obviously, for a guy who has already had an 82-point season, it comes down to putting the puck in the back of the net or, at the very least, helping others do so. But Monahan has no points in his last six games and his last goal dates back to November 2, an 11-game drought without being able to put a puck behind a goalie.
Tanner Pearson and Josh Anderson, Monahan’s linemates, aren’t much better either. We already know that Anderson hasn’t scored since March, and Pearson hasn’t scored since October 23.
That’s obviously not what they’re looking for, starting with Monahan.
“I need to be better offensively and I need to touch the puck more often,” he added. I have to be better than that everywhere on the ice. On our trio, I am the center player and it has to start with me.
“When we don’t produce on offense, when we don’t play at our best, it becomes frustrating. I’ve been through this before, and you have to try to get out of it. But I know I have to be better, and better in several aspects of the game. I have to provoke more things in attack, but I have confidence and I know what I am capable of doing. It’s just a matter of time. »
Martin St-Louis also seems to believe that it is only a matter of time as far as this veteran is concerned.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The head coach of the Canadiens, Martin St-Louis
“There’s sometimes a bit of bad luck there, I would say, but I’m not worried, Sean will find his rhythm again,” explained the coach. In addition, our power play is not as good as we would like, and this is an aspect that can help our offensive players get points, usually. »
The good news is that in hockey, players have the chance to recover fairly quickly, and that’s what Sean Monahan will have the opportunity to do during the next game, Wednesday night in Columbus, there where the Canadian will want to finish this trip in style, having collected four points out of a possible six so far.
“There are going to be times in a season when things go well, when things go less well,” added Martin St-Louis. But what I love about Sean is he keeps tackling the task, he keeps working. His game has dropped a little, but it will come back. »
Montembeault against the Blue Jackets
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Samuel Montembeault
Samuel Montembeault learned Monday morning that he will face the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Wednesday. In total, a week will have passed between this departure and the previous departure of the Quebec goaltender, who was very solid last Wednesday in Anaheim against the Ducks, in a 4-3 victory. Not an easy situation, but it doesn’t seem to bother him too much. “We do a lot of repetitions during training, we work on certain things,” he explained Monday morning. When you work a lot during training, after that, in matches, it becomes automatic. »