St. Louis snaps Canadiens' attention to detail into focus ahead of matchup vs. Maple Leafs

BROSSARD, Que. — The message was simple, delivered swiftly and pointedly, both through words and actions by Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis.

After a seventh loss in their last eight games, a fifth in a row which seemed to irk him more than the others, St. Louis pushed his players through what he termed their “most intense practice of the season.” Then he met with them and hammered home the one point he hopes resonates most ahead of a critical matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre Saturday (Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT).

“I saw things yesterday that it’s gotta stop now,” he said. “For me, it’s the actions that help the other team.”

The Canadiens resorted to them after goaltender Samuel Montembeault put them in the hole by allowing three goals on the first 10 shots he faced in Thursday’s game against the Washington Capitals. 

They finished down 8-4, after Jakub Dobes allowed four goals on the 25 shots he faced, but also after committing 16 giveaways, taking five stick infractions, and allowing 13 high-danger attempts at five-on-five — and several odd-man rushes.

Goaltending aside, the performance from the NHL’s youngest team smacked of immaturity and left St. Louis demanding introspection from his players.

“The answer’s in the mirror,” said Canadiens forward Cole Caufield. “You’ve got to find yourself and hold yourself accountable and do the things that you know can help the group, and do them the right way. He says they’re not always fun and that’s the only way to do those things is to do the things that aren’t easy and do them like you love them.”

Most of them are detail-oriented tasks, like the ones we saw unfold during the team’s 23-minute practice Friday.

Montembeault took to the ice 45 minutes before it started and worked intensely on stop-and-set drills with goaltending coach Eric Raymond and coaching consultant Alex Burrows. 

Everyone else was also on the ice well ahead of the official start, and those 23 minutes of practice focused mostly on forechecking and transition play.

It’s the stuff the Canadiens did particularly well in the opening game of the season, even if they lost it 5-2 to the Leafs. 

The scoreline that night was inflated by two empty-net goals scored by Toronto at the end, and before that, the Canadiens were particularly strong in avoiding starting the Leafs’ offence.

It’s precisely what they’ll be focused on Saturday.

“I think it’s a time-and-place thing,” said Noah Dobson, who stood out as Montreal’s most efficient player in Thursday’s loss to the Capitals. “Game management’s a big thing. Especially in second periods, it’s extra important to get pucks below their goal line. If you don’t, you turn pucks over in the neutral zone, you don’t get changes to your D, your forwards get stuck out there, you’re defending when you’re tired, and that’s when bad things happen. So, I think it’s just being aware of the situations of the game — end of periods, start of periods, just all those times in the games that are extra important to make sure you’re playing the right way and not giving them any free offence.”

A bit more focus and patience could prove fruitful for the Canadiens against a Leafs team that’s (marginally) allowing more goals per game than they are.

A goaltender stepping up to make a save would help, too.

We’ll have to wait until Saturday morning to find out which one will play for the Canadiens. 

When St. Louis was asked if it would be Dobes, he said, “I don’t know.”

Good Dobson versus great Dobson

Even if the numbers didn’t reflect it in the Washington game — Dobson had an assist and finished minus-3, with just one shot attempt that was blocked — we got a good sample of what it looks like when Dobson elevates his baseline, which is already quite high.

He was all over the ice against the Capitals, supressing Washington’s offence early and often while stimulating that of the Canadiens. 

What stood out as much as seeing Dobson up the ice so often was how physically engaged he was, even if he was only credited with two hits in the game.

“He looked a little bit more feisty out there, giving hits, taking hits, making plays behind the net, in the corners and stuff,” Caufield said. “I like his game in the O-zone all the time, but I thought his physicality was noticeable last night.”

The poise Dobson plays with is noticeable almost every night.

Not just to us, but to teammate Lane Hutson as well.

“He’s just so calm,” Hutson said. “He makes just the quiet plays that go unnoticed but are the important plays for our team to be successful, and he does it at a really high rate. Great defender, great stick, and it’s not often he’s making the wrong read.”

Making almost all the right ones and playing with an edge Thursday elevated Dobson’s game, and maintaining that against Toronto on Saturday would only help the Canadiens break their slump and notch a win.

Caufield’s jump essential to him playing his best

Speaking with the 24-year-old winger, who has 13 goals and 21 points in 20 games and is on pace to shatter career highs in both categories, he wasn’t enamoured with the two games he played before Thursday’s game.

Even if Caufield had a goal against the Boston Bruins on Saturday and an assist against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday, those performances didn’t feature what typically makes him so dangerous.

“I think it’s his pace,” said St. Louis on Thursday morning. “I can feel sometimes he’s just jumping on the ice. And sometimes you might not have your legs, or whatever, but you know when Cole has his legs and he’s jumping. So, I would say it’s that. And when he’s on, too, he elevates not necessarily his physicality, but he’s more involved physically when he’s on. And it’s not about killing guys, obviously. But I think what allows him to be more involved physically is his pace, because he gets there. You can’t be involved physically without pace.”

Caufield brought it against the Capitals, and it helped him register eight shots on net and 11 attempts. 

He rightfully liked his performance much more, even if all he got out of it was an assist.

And Caufield agreed, it came down to the jump in his step returning.

“You’re not always going to feel at your best, but for me to be kind of good out there, I’ve got to be able to bring that every night and find a way. There’s not really an excuse,” the Wisconsin native said. “Me and Marty talked about it the other day, and I agree with him; I think when I’m kind of on edge and have more pace and jump, it affects my game in a positive way. I thought I did that last night, had a bunch of good looks, and a couple that I would want back. But that’s part of the game. Sometimes the ones you don’t think go in go in, and I’m just going to stick with that.”