Canadiens St-Louis’ Outburst During Hurricanes Loss Explained

All things considered, the Montreal Canadiens performed relatively well in the first 40 minutes of play in their Thursday-night matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Habs were outshot and outchanced, par for the course given the discrepancy in talent on both rosters, but thanks to timely goals from Michael Pezzetta and Rafael Harvey-Pinard, the teams entered the second intermission tied at 2 goals apiece.

But as has been the case throughout the season, the Canadiens were quickly outclassed on the scoresheet once they lost focus.

The lack of concentration led to three consecutive goals for the Hurricanes early in the third period, and consequently, a tongue-lashing by head coach Martin St-Louis during a much-needed timeout.

Marty is less than pleased with the third period effort from the Habs pic.twitter.com/bkpEL0s5UR

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) February 17, 2023

No one, including St-Louis, expects the Canadiens to give the Hurricanes a run for their money on the scoresheet, but for a team struggling to find an identity in the early stages of their rebuild, the lackadaisical approach to the start of the third period was simply unacceptable.

“The third period was difficult,” he said. “They scored three goals in three minutes, that was pretty much the game. You can’t make any mistakes against them. They take advantage of any bad decision, both collectively, as a team, and from certain individuals that can make great players. Listen, they’re a very good team.”

The game served as a perfect example of the mix of talent and work ethic necessary to push a team to the next level.

And while St-Louis received an honest effort from players who spent the majority of the season playing for the Laval Rocket in the AHL, the same could not be said regarding many of the veteran players in the lineup who are looking to extend their NHL careers beyond their current contracts.

The juxtaposition in the work rate of various players wasn’t the only wildly contrasting element of the game.

In a way, the loss served as a barometer for St-Louis’ team.

A healthy reminder of where the team currently is, where it needs to be, and the long road in between.

“You could tell we have a lot of growing to do. Teams like that give us a glimpse of where we need to be.”

St-Louis’ post-game media availability lasted a little over two minutes, one of his shortest availabilities of the season, but the message was clear.

Regardless of the opponent, there’s no room for passengers on this team.

At the very least, he expects a sincere effort every night.