Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Kent Hughes, Martin St. Louis, Jonathan Drouin, Carey Price, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — Kent Hughes has been busy on the phones placing and receiving calls from other general managers leading to Monday’s trade deadline at 3:00 pm eastern. Vincent Lecavalier, special advisor, joined Hughes, Jeff Gorton, and other members of hockey operations on Sunday to prepare for the big day.

Hughes got the work started in February, when trading Tyler Toffoli to the Flames, and continued on Wednesday by concluding a transaction with the Panthers for Ben Chiarot.

Artturi Lehkonen is in high demand from other teams, and will be traded for the right price. Brett Kulak, Jeff Petry, Chris Wideman, and Jake Allen may also generate interest from other clubs.

Entertaining Win

On Saturday, the Canadiens scored three times in the second period in a 5-1 victory against the Ottawa Senators.

“I thought our team played pretty hard tonight. It’s nice to come on home ice and get a big win for the fans. At the end of the day, our job is to perform, entertain people, and our team played an exciting game tonight,” Paul Byron said postgame.

The Canadiens have been entertaining the fans by scoring goals. Montreal has scored three or more goals in 14 of last 15 games. Prior to the current sequence, the Canadiens had scored at least three goals 14 times in the first 47 games of the season.

“We’re just playing the right way. Feeling good about ourselves. I think pretty much ever since [Martin St. Louis] came in, we’ve just been paying attention to detail, watching a lot of video, learning a lot, too. He’s brought a lot to the table. I think everyone’s playing with that swagger and confidence,” Josh Anderson said on Saturday.

Paul Byron added that the team has been practising offensive play and creativity in the offensive zone, and that has carried over to the games.

Cole Caufield has led the way with 12 goals in 17 matches since the hiring of Martin St. Louis. The forward is currently on a four-game goal scoring stretch, where he has collected a total of seven players.

Drouin Returns

Saturday marked the return of Jonathan Drouin to the lineup, after being sidelined with a wrist injury since Jan. 20th. The forward and St. Louis have not spent a lot of time together since the coaching change, however the pair played together during one training camp with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In theory, with St. Louis coaching to concepts instead of systems, an offensive-minded player such as Drouin should have success. For his return, Drouin was slotted on a line with Rem Pitlick and Mike Hoffman.

“He was very responsible. What I liked about Jonathan is that he made the play that was in front of him. In games where you’re not going to have a lot of space offensively, sometimes a good shift is to defend, clear the puck and make a change. I liked the maturity of his decisions. Some offensive players sometimes look for the home run play, sometimes it isn’t there. When you try to manufacture it, you sometimes put yourself in trouble. Jonathan hit a lot of singles, and helped us to continue what we were doing in the game, without taking risks when there was nothing to gain,” evaluated St. Louis.

“I think [Drouin] is one of our most skilled guys on our team, especially with Marty being our coach. He loves guys making plays and reads, and having that confidence, I think it plays into [Drouin’s] game a lot. Obviously, he’s been out for a little bit now. It’s hard when you come back from that game, getting your legs going and whatnot. But I thought he kept things simple. I think he’s going to thrive under Marty, for sure,” Anderson said.

Price Joins Teammates

Carey Price took a positive step in his rehab on Saturday as he joined his teammates for the optional practice in Brossard. Price was greeted with stick taps for his first practice with the rest of the team.

“Players like that have a presence. Being on the ice with Carey Price, just as a coach, it’s something special, and I know it’s special for the players, too. He’s a very proven player in this league. He’s a veteran, and it’s fun to have him back on the ice with the team because he’s been away for a long time,” St. Louis said after the practice.

“It’s amazing. He’s a fantastic goalie. This is my first time skating with him and it’s really cool to be out there with him. I’ve always been a fan of the Montreal Canadiens and Carey Price and just the history of all of it. He’s an amazing goalie, so it’s cool that he’s back on the ice,” added Rem Pitlick.

Even though Saturday was a step in the right direction for Price, there’s no timeline on when he will be ready for game action. Last week, Hughes said that he expects the goaltender to play this season.

Rocket Bounce Back

After a dreadful end of road trip, the Rocket bounced back with two victories on the weekend at Place Bell. On Friday, Joel Teasdale registered a hat trick and added an assist to help his team get a 7-4 victory against the Hartford Wolf Pack. “When we had chances we found the back of the net, and I liked our energy,” Jean-Francois Houle said postgame.

On Saturday, Laval scored four times in the second period on their way to 5-1 win against the Hershey Bears.

“The first was kind of slow for us. At least we took the beat in the second, and we took over the game in the second. We were all over them, and we had 11 scoring chances in the second period. Guys are playing well. They’re giving everything they have, and I thought our D-core for being as young as they are, played pretty good,” Houle said.

Defenceman Louie Belpedio was sidelined over the weekend with an upper body injury, and Tory Dello did not finish Saturday’s game with a lower body injury. No timeline provided for their respective injuries.

On Sunday, the team signed defencemen Dominic Cormier and Nicolas Mattinen to professional tryout contracts. Cormier has collected 31 points in 52 games with the Reading Royals. Mattinen was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, and was currently playing with the University of Ottawa.

Laval’s homestand continues this week with the visit of Belleville on Wednesday, Lehigh Valley on Friday, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.

Lions Finally Win

The Trois-Rivieres Lions snapped their five-game losing streak with a 1-0 victory on Friday against the Maine Mariners at Colisee Videotron.

“We needed a victory. I liked a lot of things tonight. We blocked shots and played tight defensively. We found a way to win. That’s what we’ll have to do in the playoffs,” Eric Belanger said.

Shawn St-Amant extended his goal streak to four games by scoring Trois-Rivieres’ only goal on Friday. The forward did not finish the game after getting hit by the puck on the face in the third period. No timeline provided for his absence, but he’s not expected to travel with the team in this week’s road trip. St-Amant has played six games with the Rocket, and plays an important role for the Lions.

Arturs Silovs registered the shutout with a 31-save performance. Silovs was loaned to the Lions from the Canucks organization. “It was good to be able to play again. I haven’t played for a long time. I was just practicing lately. […] I really liked the atmosphere (at the Colisée Vidéotron). It’s a Friday night game in Canada after all. It was very pleasant,” said the goalie postgame.

“I found him very solid. What I noticed was that he read the plays really good. He was moving and he was already in position before the pass came to the other side. It’s a sign of a talented goalie. He’s tall, athletic and plays the puck well. It took a performance like that from our goalie. It will help Philippe Desrosiers who was putting a lot of pressure on himself,” added the coach.

(Quotes courtesy of Le Nouvelliste)

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
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