Hosting the Utah Hockey Club for the first time ever, the Montreal Canadiens made about the worst first impression they could make. Mustering a paltry 13 shots in regulation, they stumbled their way into an overtime period they didn’t deserve to be in, and unsurprisingly stumbled out of it with a loss. The scoreboard didn’t accurately depict how badly they played in that game.
Most concerningly, they demoted two of their key forwards in Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky to the fourth line, and they responded with objectively terrible play.
Martin St-Louis said that their demotion was not about sending a message, but whatever it was about, even the most casual of fans knew they needed a big game. They delivered the polar opposite, both looking like they belonged on the fourth line to begin with.
Dach had a great rush in the third period that drew a penalty, but was otherwise unable to make simple reads, turning the puck over on several occasions. To make matters worse, he was on the ice for the overtime goal, and just watched Nick Schmaltz walk past him to set up the game winner. If this was an opportunity for Dach to prove himself worthy of moving back into the top six, he didn’t do himself a single favour.
For Slafkovsky’s part, it wasn’t necessarily the worst game he’s ever played – the problem was that you wouldn’t even know that he played. He was invisible, as if the demotion to the fourth line prompted him to shrink away into the shadows, afraid that any mistakes would see him out of the lineup altogether. Like Dach, Slafkovsky clearly didn’t deliver the kind of performance that would suggest he belongs any higher in the lineup.
It’s hard to pinpoint what the next step is here. Removing them both from the lineup entirely feels drastic, but it would be the logical next step for any player that isn’t considered part of the core. St-Louis is in an unenviable position at this juncture, because whether or not he was trying to send a message, he clearly needs to find a way to get both of these players going.
What he tried on Tuesday night didn’t work. We’ll find out later today if he has any other ideas.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back tomorrow night after the Habs hit the road to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
