Martin St-Louis will want better results on special teams

The Montreal Canadiens ranked 27th in the NHL’s power play last season and if the team wants to be “in the mix” late this spring, they’ll need to have more success in that phase of the game.

Defenseman Mike Matheson pointed out Friday that power play hasn’t really been a priority for the Habs since head coach Martin St-Louis took over.

Without wanting to make it a priority this season, St-Louis nevertheless admitted that he was going to put a little more emphasis on the work of special teams.

“I’m not saying it’s not a priority either,” St. Louis said of the power play. “It’s important. But five-on-five is very, very important. You can’t just rely on the power play. But the power play has to improve and it has to help us win games. Our penalty kill has to help us win games. But I don’t think either of those are going to make a difference if the five-on-five isn’t in a good place.”

The Canadiens spent more than 30 minutes on the ice working on special teams play Friday. Kirby Dach joined last season’s regular quartet — Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky and Mike Matheson — on the first unit.

The second unit consisted of Lane Hutson, Patrik Laine, Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook and Joshua Roy.

We could see a lot of positional permutations, especially with the first unit.

“I was part of a unit with the Winnipeg Jets that scored a lot and nobody moved and there’s units like the Edmonton Oilers where there’s constant movement and they’re one of the best teams in the league in that phase of the game,” Laine said. “You have to find what works for your group. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

St-Louis noted that special teams are a constant game of cat and mouse. He recalled that the last major evolution in the power play was the 1-3-1 deployment of the Tampa Bay Lightning before the 2010s.

Since then, penalty kills have learned to counter this formation, including forcing the player along the boards to move to the corner of the rink. So they’ve switched the wingers sideways so they have more options to deal with this pressure.

“You have to understand what beats what,” St. Louis said. “It doesn’t guarantee a goal, but you have to know how to beat the opponent’s penalty kill.”

“We teach players what to do depending on the situation in front of them. Everyone has to be on the same page and recognize the signs. Eventually, you’re going to see the opening before it’s even created. It takes time and I’m glad we can work on that.”

The Canadiens’ players will need repetitions to develop automatisms. That’s especially true for players like Dach and Laine, who are returning to the game after absences of nine and 11 months, respectively.

Laine also appeared frustrated on a few occasions on Friday.

“I know what I’m capable of and what my mandate is here,” said the 26-year-old Finn. “When things don’t go the way I hope, I’m hard on myself. I’m demanding of myself and my teammates because I want to win.”

Laine said he is aware that he will have to be patient, as he continues to seek to shake off rust and develop cohesion with his new teammates.

He said he would like to play each of the Canadiens’ final three preseason games. Asked about that possibility for Laine and Dach, St-Louis simply replied that “anything is possible.”

The Canadiens will play a fourth preseason game on Saturday, when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre.

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