Martin St-Louis Pushes Maxim Lapierre Into Game 7 in Buffalo
maxim lapierre and the Canadiens de Montréal are heading to Game 7 in Buffalo on Monday after an 8-3 loss to the Sabres in Game 6. Montreal can still reach the Eastern Conference final, but only by winning at the KeyBank Center after giving up seven unanswered goals Saturday night.
St-Louis at Montréal airport
Martin St-Louis spent Sunday at Montréal’s metropolitan airport before the team flew to western New York, trying to reset a group that had led 3-1 in the first period before the game unraveled. He said the team must “bondir vers l’avant” after the obstacles that appeared in the last 24 hours, and he drew a sharper line than the usual hockey shorthand around recovery.
“Vous bondissez vers l’avant, vous êtes en fait plus loin. De la physique.” He added, “Les obstacles de la vie surviennent à différents moments, et pour nous, en ce moment, ils sont apparus au cours des 24 dernières heures et nous devons trouver un moyen de bondir vers l’avant” and “Il faut que tu sois fort mentalement, il faut que tu aies une petite mémoire de ce côté-là. Il faut que tu comprennes pourquoi on n’a pas eu un bon match et il faut que tu continues.”
Nick Suzuki and Danault
Nick Suzuki pointed to the fact that Montreal has already faced this kind of pressure once this spring. “On peut vraiment s’appuyer là-dessus,” he said, before adding, “Nous faisons vraiment preuve d’une grande résilience. On s’est déjà retrouvés dans cette situation au premier tour, donc on a de l’expérience, et il ne nous reste plus qu’à remporter un match.”
Phillip Danault called the defeat hard to shake on Sunday morning. “Chaque défaite est difficile à digérer,” he said, then added that Game 7 has to be the Canadiens’ best performance across both series combined: “Ce matin, on se réveille et celle-là fait un peu plus mal, mais parfois, c’est une bonne chose. Il faut que ce soit notre meilleur match, de loin, des deux séries combinées. Jouer désespérés, comme eux l’étaient hier [samedi].”
25.8 and 33 years
Montreal has not lost two games in a row in the playoffs this year, and it had not suffered consecutive losses since mid-March. That keeps the path narrow but live: a win Monday sends the Canadiens into the Eastern Conference final and could make them the youngest team in 33 years to get there, with an average age of 25.8.
For a club that led 3-1 and then surrendered seven unanswered goals, the task now is simpler than the mood around it: handle one road game in Buffalo or end the spring here. St-Louis has already told his players what he wants from them, and the only answer that counts is on the ice at KeyBank Center.
