The further you keep the puck away from your net, the less chance you have of scoring. This is a truth from La Palice… or from the police, as Roméo Pérusse or Claude Blanchard have certainly already said. Unless it’s Jean Perron.
Yet that’s exactly what Martin St-Louis told his players after seeing them have their hands full against the Maple Leafs and in Boston. And they listened to him.
The Canadiens’ forwards constantly forced the Senators’ defensemen to keep their noses in the bay window. Jake Evans’ line was particularly effective in this area, applying pressure for most of the evening.
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“We played a deeper game,” said the Canadian head coach happily.
In this way, the Canadian players limited turnovers, those unpleasant surprises that occur when you try to get ahead of yourself too much in neutral territory. They usually lead to overcrowding and moments of panic.
“It helped us a lot not to cause a turnover,” Mike Matheson said. This made us more organized in our area.”
It doesn’t work without Guhle
Consequently, Samuel Montembeault was never really in trouble. He didn’t have to repeat his best Denis Lemieux impersonation, as was the case against Toronto. Although he robbed Shane Pinto twice at close range.
He parried 24 times and only lost to Tim Stützle. So far, it remains the only goal he has allowed this season.
“Monty looks great in net. He is in control. Like last year, it shows good progress. I’m not surprised,” St-Louis said.
“I see the puck very well. “Even with the setbacks, I quickly get an overview,” said the goalkeeper, remembering the long hours of work in the summer in the company of a neurologist. And when I give feedback, the guys are good at clearing the puck.”
Then his teammates don’t help him by blocking shots. Kaiden Guhle was dominant with eight blocked shots.
“He is an important participant in our training. He played big minutes against the best opposing lines and at a numerical disadvantage, St-Louis recalled. Without a defender like Guhle you can’t win consistently in this league.”
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