Canadiens Analysis
Canadiens Fact Check: St-Louis Discusses Slafkovsky Line Change

A sombre Martin St-Louis addressed the media on Friday following an embarrassing loss by the Montreal Canadiens to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Beyond the 9-2 scoreline, the fact that the Habs allowed the Penguins, who were barely giving an effort, to score six goals in the third period was evidence that the team imploded before collapsing.
With that in mind, we thought it would be fun to fact-check some of St-Louis’ comments, though not in a bid to embarrass him. We all know head coaches hold a different type of dialogue with the media than they do behind closed doors, one that usually errs on the side of caution when it comes to evaluating recent play.
Fact Checks
Canadiens Playing Good Hockey Lately
As per usual, St-Louis mixed a heavy dose of idioms with vague comments regarding the future, though given the beating the Canadiens took on Thursday, the approach made sense.
“When the day is done, the most important day is tomorrow,” said St-Louis. “Even if everything went well, the most important day is tomorrow. You have to try to understand that from the moment you wake up. The sun will come up tomorrow.”
St-Louis would go on to suggest the Canadiens have played very well lately, including the first 45 minutes against the Penguins.
“We fix it with what we did today,” explained St-Louis. “How we show up tomorrow. We’ve played some really good hockey lately, like I’ve said, it’s a 3-2 game with 15 minutes to go.”
Fiction: The Canadiens did not play very good hockey in the first 45 minutes against the Penguins. It wasn’t jaw-droppingly terrible, but it was far from really good. Heading into the second intermission, the Canadiens only managed to control 35 percent of the shots during 5v5 play, though they did manage to control one more high-danger scoring chance than the Penguins. It’s also worth noting the Penguins had a 2:1 advantage in expected goals at 5v5.
Additionally, the last time the Canadiens controlled the shots, high-danger chances, and expected goals was on November 30, versus the New York Rangers. That marked the end of the slight surge in results from the Canadiens. Even the team’s 3-0 shutout win over the Nashville Predators saw them get outchanced and outshot by a wide margin. Of course, there are different ways to evaluate how a team plays, and the internal statistics in Montreal are much more advanced than what the public can access, but statistically speaking, the Habs have not played well in December.
Splitting Lines
St-Louis made an interesting adjustment midway through the game, before things went horribly wrong, by promoting Juraj Slafkovsky to the top line, while relegating Alex Newhook to the second line.
“I found we weren’t spending enough time in the offensive zone,” he said. “The Dvorak and Evans line is offering lots of consistency, and I’m trying to find the best equation for the other two lines. I had an opportunity to test new combinations, I know Slafkovsky, Caufield, and Suzuki were a good line for us last year. And the Dach, Laine, Slaf line wasn’t giving me enough. Sometimes you change one player, you follow your intuition.”
Fact: I’m not sure intuition had much to do with it, but St-Louis hit the nail on the head when he said Slafkovsky, Dach, and Laine weren’t all pulling in the same direction.
We discussed the first batch of results from those three earlier in the week, and suffice it to say the numbers were so ugly they would have made an onion cry. And things somehow got worse versus the Penguins, as they were once again getting the tar beaten out of them without generating much from an offensive standpoint. It’s not all that shocking when you consider they aren’t exactly the most fleet-footed players in the lineup, not to mention all three have faced adversity in the last season.
Laine will need a lot more time before regaining his form at 5v5, while it’s quite apparent Dach’s confidence needs to be rebuilt from the ground up.
Regardless, St-Louis was absolutely correct in saying they weren’t giving him enough.
Dach goes for a change, Laine drops his coverage.
Just a whole lotta sloppiness on this play. pic.twitter.com/xswl0f2BA2
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 13, 2024
Line Consistency
He was also right when he said the Jake Evans and Christian Dvorak lines have offered consistency, statistically speaking. Fans are probably picturing all the missed breakaway opportunities, including those which featured Dvorak shooting directly at the opposing goalie’s chest, but despite the lack of goals, at the very least, they’re generating chances.
With that in mind, prior to puck drop versus Pittsburgh, Newhook had been playing quite well on the first line, to the point that they were finally back to controlling most of the shots and chances. It was essentially the only combination involving Newhook that has produced interesting results since the 23-year-old forward joined the team in 2023.
Alex Newhook scores his sixth goal of the season after Caufield drove the offensive zone.
1-0 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/m3DHqDnoki
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 8, 2024
Therefore, St-Louis broke up a top line that was playing relatively well, which isn’t ideal, but you’d be hard-pressed to suggest he had many other options, making it a roster construction issue. The Habs simply can’t expect to win if their second line is getting ground into dust every game, and it was certainly not a good situation for Slafkovsky, Dach, and Laine.
If we’re being honest, finding a role for Slafkovsky that is conducive to scoring is crucial for the rebuild, whereas a player like Newhook can be used down the lineup without much worry that you’re losing any potential offence.
But if Slafkovsky is to find his rhythm, he’ll need a hand from St-Louis, who will have to provide some consistency in his usage before he can expect any back from the youngest player in the lineup.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.