Young Canadiens continue to display a maturity that is beyond their years

AtlanticBruinsCanadiensLightningMaple LeafsPanthersRed WingsSabresSenatorsMetropolitanBlue JacketsCapitalsDevilsFlyersHurricanesIslandersPenguinsRangersCentralAvalancheBlackhawksBluesJetsMammothPredatorsStarsWildPacificCanucksDucksFlamesGolden KnightsKingsKrakenOilersSharksScores & ScheduleStandingsPodcastsFantasyNHL OddsNHL PicksPlayoff bracketNHL Draft rankingRed Light NewsletterStanley Cup The Canadiens have not lost consecutive games in nearly two months. Joe Hrycych / Getty Images Share articleBUFFALO, N.Y. — There is a quote from Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis that seemed significant at the time, but seems even more significant now, now that his young team is heading home from western New York with a road split in this second-round series against the Buffalo Sabres after a 5-1 win in Game 2. It came March 21, after the Canadiens beat the New York Islanders 7-3 to complete a week when they beat the Boston Bruins and lost to the Detroit Red Wings. But most significantly, those games came after losing on back-to-back nights at home to the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks. “I find this was a week we found ourselves again,” St. Louis said after that win against the Islanders. “We’ve had long stretches this season where we’ve played that kind of hockey, and it’s normal over the course of a long season that you lose it sometimes. You have to get it back. “It’s always a group decision because you always have five players on the ice, and after that you have another five players on the ice, and then another five on the ice. So it’s each player that has to make the decision to take care of the team and play within our rules. It doesn’t matter what structure you have; if you have two or three players who don’t play within the rules, you’re lowering the percentages and you’re going to give up chances.” The Canadiens’ record after that loss to the Ducks, in which they gave up the winning goal to Cutter Gauthier with 2:30 left in regulation, was 36-20-10. They were third in the Atlantic Division but only 3 points clear of the playoff cutoff line. And when St. Louis said three games later that the Canadiens had found themselves, it is unlikely that even he understood the extent to which that was true. The Canadiens have not lost consecutive games since that loss to the Ducks on March 15, a loss that reeked of immaturity. In less than two months, the Canadiens, the youngest team in the Stanley Cup playoffs, have matured. They have refused to allow a loss to turn into a losing streak, even one of two games. They lost three times in the first round of the playoffs and followed each one with a win. They lost Game 1 against the Sabres and won Game 2. “I think it’s maturity, and controlling what we can control. That’s what we do,” St. Louis said after the Game 2 win. “You start over every day. Whether you won or lost, you start over, and it’s being able to control that. You stay on task. It’s a level of maturity our team continues to elevate, even if we’re young. “Maturity doesn’t necessarily have an age.” That sounds counterintuitive, because maturity is almost always associated with age. But this kind of maturity is different. Hockey maturity is different. It is about managing emotions, managing game situations, managing the score, managing the puck and, yes, managing losses to make sure they don’t turn into subsequent losses. And the transformation the Canadiens underwent that week in mid-March still resonates today. The Canadiens’ maturity in less than two months has created an unwavering confidence, one that is difficult to define or explain. But that confidence is what allowed the Canadiens to go into Tampa for Game 7 and beat the Lightning, and it allowed them not to get overly rattled after a Game 1 loss in Buffalo. Maturity and confidence. Hockey is about intangibles, but there is little that is more intangible than those two traits. It is hard to know when you have them, but once you do, you are sure you do. “I think in previous years, you go into some games and you’re doubting your chances a little bit,” Canadiens centre Jake Evans said. “But now, I think these last two years especially, you’re confident against anyone. I think the coaching staff does a good job of getting that belief going and showing where we could be better and where we could beat teams. “I think one, they have a good eye for the game, all of them. They spend a lot of time and they’ve got a lot of help. They’re great salesmen, too. They’ve got everyone believing. They can sell anything to us, I think.” The coaching staff, led by St. Louis, appears to be at the heart of this confidence that courses through the Canadiens’ veins. And while it has been building for years, as Evans suggested, the height it has reached since mid-March is what is driving this bus for the Canadiens. “I think it’s coming from our structure. I think we all believe in our structure and the way we play. That’s pretty much it,” Juraj Slafkovský said. “We believe in each other, everyone who is out there is a great player and we believe we’re going to make smart decisions. That’s why we’re confident. … Sometimes during the season, we were maybe trying to do too much. Sometimes we need to be a little calmer and believe in that structure. Then I think it can take over the game.” A lot of it has to do with the fact the Canadiens’ coaching staff approaches wins and losses with the same focus on what is needed for the next game. After a loss, coaches tend to be more positive. After a win, they can be a little more negative. It is all in the hopes of reaching the proper equilibrium that is most vital in a playoff environment. “He’s a super-positive guy. He always tries to see the good in things,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said of St. Louis. “Even if we lose, he’s looking for positives that we did. It definitely starts from him, and I think our leadership group also takes that persona of just trying to be positive. It definitely helps through a long season when you don’t get too down. “If we play bad and we still win, there’s going to be things that we talk about. I’m sure there’s little things tonight we can clean up.” This is a mindset that does not necessarily develop organically in a young team. Belief is not a given. It is hard to believe in a structure that is not sound. It is hard to believe in teammates who freelance, who don’t understand and respect the rules by which you play the game. It is hard to believe when there is no reason to believe. The Canadiens believe. A Game 6 loss at home to the Lightning, forcing them to go to Tampa to win Game 7 on the road, did not put a dent in that belief. A Game 1 loss in Buffalo didn’t, either. And while maturity is something that is easy to believe can’t be taught, St. Louis has long believed that there is nothing that can’t be taught. “If you really want to learn something, you work at it, you can be taught,” he said. “It always starts with the individual; I think we’re trying to steer them in the right direction. We’re a group that stays in control, and that’s maturity. Sometimes you get challenged. You get challenged emotionally, and the maturity part is important. We have different opportunities to grow from these challenges, and we’ve done that. I think it’s part of our growth, our process. Maturity’s a big part of it.” The Canadiens are the youngest team in the playoffs. They are not at their peak in the team-building or rebuild process that kicked off a little over four years ago. In fact, they are far from it. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have success right now. And they have already seemingly acquired some of the most important elements of success, whether that success comes now or in the future. They have maturity despite their youth. They have confidence despite their youth. They have a belief despite their youth. The Canadiens have essentially decided to ignore that they are young. And it is empowering them. Because, apparently, maturity doesn’t necessarily have an age. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms