Change behind the bench for the Montreal Canadiens? Things are starting to heat up for Alex Burrows
With a performance of 36 saves on 37 shots, one could say that Juuse Saros stole Sunday night's game between the Canadiens and the Predators, but on the Habs' side, no one wanted to use that as an excuse.
The players and Martin St-Louis took the blame, unanimously stating that they lacked finishing, without taking credit away from the opposing goaltender.
As has happened too often in recent years, the power play did not produce despite several opportunities. It was the turning point, as the Predators capitalized on one of their power plays to win by one goal.
Not only does the Canadiens fail to score in such situations, but they also fail to gain momentum, and that's what is slowly killing them in a game. Alex Burrows is in charge of the power play, and it simply isn't working.
Martin St-Louis made a subtle remark during his post-game press conference:
Of course, the coach would never directly criticize his colleague in front of the media, and I don't believe that was his intention either. However, a second clue shows us that confidence is not entirely present between the head coach and his assistant.
Late in the game, Martin called a timeout. Burrows spoke and explained the game plan to the players, but St-Louis interrupted him to give his own instructions. I couldn't find a video of the sequence, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who noticed the same thing.
I believe Alex Burrows is doing a good job and that he can't work miracles with a team so plagued by injuries and lacking talent, but perhaps the compatibility between the current players and him is simply nonexistent.
I don't wish for his departure, but changes will undoubtedly need to be made. The lack of success on the power play must stop as soon as possible; it's been going on for too long.
| POLL | ||
In your opinion, is Alex Burrows still the right man for the job? | ||
| Yes | 87 | 16.3 % |
| No | 446 | 83.7 % |
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