Martin St-Louis Sees 1-0 Loss Tie Ligue Nationale De Hockey Series 3-3
The Canadiens lost 1-0 in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday in the ligue nationale de hockey first-round series, and Martin St-Louis said it was their best game of the matchup. The defeat tied the series 3-3 and pushed everything into a seventh game.
St-Louis did not sound like a coach looking for excuses. “C’était toute une game de hockey.” He added, “Je pense que les deux équipes ont joué leur meilleur match de la série,” before saying, “On a eu nos chances.”
St-Louis on Montreal's response
The Canadiens created enough pressure to stay in it all night. They finished with more than 30 shots on Andrei Vasilevskiy, had 26 scoring chances and leaned on a bench shuffle that included about 15 different line combinations in the first period.
St-Louis said the group handled the moment without losing shape. “Nous étions calmes dans le chaos. Nous avons été bons, nous n’avons pas paniqué. C’est décevant de ne pas avoir le résultat escompté, mais quel match de hockey !”
He also pointed to the emotional setting around overtime. “C’est bruyant, il y a les émotions, il faut rester concentrés sur nos tâches et se calmer sur le banc,” he said. “Il faut embrasser le moment. Il faut se relever. Let’s go!”
Matheson and Evans
Mike Matheson said the mood before overtime stayed upbeat. “L’atmosphère dans le vestiaire avant la prolongation était bonne,” he said. “On se parlait, on avait beaucoup d’énergie, on était confiant.”
Matheson added, “On était solides, les deux gardiens ont vraiment bien joué. On a eu nos chances, on n’a juste pas marqué.” Jake Evans took the same view, saying, “On a eu plein de chances de prendre les devants, sans réussir, mais on doit soutirer le positif de cette performance.”
Evans also pushed back on the idea that this series would be settled quickly. “Personne ici ne pensait que ce serait une courte série,” he said. “On doit profiter du moment.”
Game 7 in the series
The result leaves Montreal with one more shot to settle a first-round series that has gone all the way to a 7th game. St-Louis said several Canadiens players have never played one, which leaves the group in a pressure spot that will ask for the same calm they showed in overtime, only with even less room for mistakes.
For Montreal, the edge from Friday was not the final score. It was the performance around it, and whether that kind of pressure can travel with a team into the next game.
