MONTREAL – Ahead of Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, head coach Martin St-Louis answered a question about how individual players can deal with being targets in the playoffs, as he was during his playing career.
“Try to see things clearly through the chaos. You have your own expectations, and you hear everybody else's expectations. All that is noise and chaotic. Can you just stay focused and clear with the reads that you have to make while all this is around you? You can’t control that. You can control this,” he said while gesturing towards himself.
Although St-Louis was largely talking about individual players, this mentality also applies to the collective as well. As the Canadiens gear up for a potentially decisive Game 6 against the Lightning, they will need to stay focused on the task at hand: closing out the series on home ice.
“We expect them to be fired up,” said Alexandre Carrier during his pregame media op. “When your back is against the wall, you’re desperate and you want to give it your all. So, that’s what I expect from them, but I also expect the same thing from our team. We want to close out the series in front of our fans, so I expect an excellent hockey game tonight.”
In preparation for tonight’s anticipated contest, the Canadiens held an optional skate at the Bell Centre, with 15 players opting into the session.
