How has Martin St. Louis impacted the Canadiens success?

The man behind the bench in la belle province has been successful at orchestrating an incredible turnaround with one of the NHL’s Original Six.

The Montreal Canadiens are just two wins away from advancing to the Stanley Cup semifinals for the first time in five years. A lot of that comes from the work head coach Martin St. Louis has done, not only with this team, but also in his first couple of years with the team, when the Habs were rebuilding with a core that now runs the show.

St. Louis’ knowledge of the game, gained over 15 years of NHL play and a Stanley Cup win, gives him a unique perspective. It has led him to instill game plans and a group mentality that have helped the Habs become a consistent playoff threat.

On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Marco D’Amico of RG.org joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to discuss how St. Louis has been a key part in Montreal’s run in recent years.

Marco D’Amico: Pne of Martin St. Louis’ biggest tropes, at least at the beginning of the season. was one of the best ways to defend is to make sure that you don’t spend any time in your zone. So, prolonged offensive zone puck possession. I don’t feel like the Canadiens started the playoffs strong in that department, but they definitely ended that Tampa series strong in that department. That’s carried over into this Buffalo series.

You’re looking at you know the Philip Danault line with Alex Texier and Josh Anderson. Puck possession monsters in terms of their stats. That’s kind of carried over and trickled down. You look at Kirby Dach’s line with Zach Bolduc, and now Joe Valeno, monsters in terms of puck possession the last two games.

You can clearly see that there’s three major aspects to the way that [St. Louis] wants to play. Consistent forecheck. Off-rush offense, and prolonged offensive zone possession so that they can keep coming in waves. The Canadiens’ depth this season allows them to do that because they have guys that can legitimately score on all four lines that are starting to pop off almost at the same time.

To me, it’s been that. It’s been the relentless forecheck. It’s been consistent effort. They’re not necessarily outskilling guys…But they’re definitely outworking the Buffalo Sabres. That is a Martin St. Louis trait.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…