Martin St-Louis wasn’t interested in blaming the fists for Montreal’s meltdown.
After the Canadiens let a 4-0 lead slip away in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Jets, the coach zeroed in on something he believed mattered far more than the fights that followed: the team’s five-on-five play.
That’s where St-Louis said the real issue lived. Montreal may have jumped out in front early, but the coach made it clear he didn’t see a team that was controlling the game.
Patrick Friolet had labeled one of the fights “unnecessary,” but St-Louis didn’t go there. He wasn’t looking for a spark to explain Winnipeg’s comeback.
The shot count told the same story. Jacob Fowler faced 47 shots and stopped 42 of them, and without that effort, Montreal likely wouldn’t have even salvaged a point. On the other side, Stuart Skinner saw only 22 shots.
The Canadiens did their scoring through special teams. Cole Caufield scored twice on the power play, while Josh Anderson and Owen Beck added the other goals. But the lead was built more on those chances than on sustained control at even strength, which is why St-Louis called it one of the club’s worst five-on-five performances of the season.
Montreal also played without Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach, two key forwards who were unavailable for the game.
Even with the ugly finish, the bigger picture still looks strong for the Canadiens. They’re second in the Atlantic Division at 9-3-3 and have gone 7-1-2 over their last 10. They came into the night on a five-game winning streak, and St-Louis had recently presented Phillip Danault with a commemorative puck for his 800th NHL game in the locker room.
So one rough night at five-on-five doesn’t erase the momentum. It does, however, leave a message hanging in the air.
Montreal gets its next chance Thursday against Utah, and that’s the opportunity to show it heard the coach loud and clear.
St-Louis didn’t soften his postgame message:
“We were winning, but we weren’t outplaying them…We got what we deserved. If you look at the game as a whole, forget the score, Winnipeg was the better team tonight.
How the whole thing happened, that’s hard to explain. I’ve never been part of anything like that.”
Rather than point at the fights, St-Louis pointed at his own team. Now the Canadiens have to answer.
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Florian Xhekaj Suddenly Faces Real Pressure In Canadiens Lineup
Florian Xhekajs night against the Winnipeg Jets turned into one of those moments that can linger well beyond the final horn. The Canadiens rookie dropped the gloves in a game that was still manageable, and the sequence helped set the stage for a wild finish as Montreal saw its lead disappear in an overtime loss. It was the kind of momentum shift that can leave a coach weighing not just the emotion of the moment, but the cost of it.
Martin St-Louis did not call out Xhekaj publicly, which fits the coachs usual measured approach, but the bigger issue may be what comes next for the young forward. Montreal is getting healthier, and when the lineup starts to tighten up, every shift matters more. For Xhekaj, the fight may not have drawn an immediate rebuke, but it could still make his place in the lineup a lot less secure. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Suddenly Have A No-Cost Roster Decision Kent Hughes Must Weigh
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The decision comes down to what the Canadiens value more right now: a younger piece who could grow into a bigger role over time, or a veteran who might help sooner but comes with a shorter runway. No move has been made yet, and for Montreal the real intrigue is whether Hughes sees this as a rare no-cost chance to address a need before another club gets there first. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Sent A Message With Juraj Slafkovsky And Fans Noticed
Martin St. Louis made a subtle but noticeable lineup call in a recent game, handing alternate captain duties to Juraj Slafkovsky and Kaiden Guhle while the Canadiens were dealing with absences. It was the kind of move that tends to get attention in Montreal, where every detail around leadership and identity gets magnified, and the coach made clear the choice was meant to recognize players who help set the tone inside the room.
Guhles inclusion fit the usual mold for a steady young defenseman who has earned trust through consistent effort and by showing younger teammates how to carry themselves. Slafkovskys letter, though, invited a different kind of conversation, because his place in the leadership picture and his overall impact this season have not been viewed the same way by everyone around the team. [Read more 🡒]