MONTREAL — We’ll soon find out what the Montreal Canadiens got out of their 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres, because what Patrik Laine got out of it is even more important now.
He fired three shots at the injured animal. He received a warm welcome and a hat trick from fans at the Bell Center, who chanted his name after scoring his first hat trick in a Canadiens uniform. After the game, he felt his love for hockey come back to him.
Consider what this experience could bring to Ryan and the Canadiens.
They traded him in August because they knew his patented shot would guarantee him a level of success, even while dealing with a collarbone injury and spending time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. They have to believe that talent will ensure respectable levels of productivity, and they have to believe that anything beyond that will be gravy.
But Ryan first needed to rediscover his passion for the sport.
That was all but gone by the end of his four-year tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets, but its full-force resurgence could serve as motivation for his continued development.
Martin St. Louis, the late-blooming Hall of Fame player-turned-coach, knows from experience how far love and passion can take a player.
“It all starts here,” he said after Tuesday’s game. “When players have that love, that passion, they work harder and they commit to anything that doesn’t guarantee success but helps to achieve success. For me, it all starts from there. “
It’s been a rebirth for the 26-year-old Ryan, with six goals in seven games boosting his confidence after last year’s experience and a knee injury suffered less than two games into pre-season. It undermined his confidence.
Again, this is important for Finns and it is important for Canadians.
“When you have players with that kind of talent and you have them love the game and be passionate about it,” St. Louis said, “it’s very rare that you don’t benefit from it.”
The prolific scorer scored 44 goals in one season in Winnipeg and had 64 goals in 174 games with the Blue Jackets, but he meant only a little more to the Canadiens. That’s all. That means a lot — don’t get me wrong — but it’s not everything for a team trying to build a perennial contender of the future.
It’s important that Ryan believes he’s more than just a goalscorer. He works to prove that above all else.
“You’re always trying to be the best player you can be and I’ve never considered myself just a goalscorer. That’s how the media has made me,” Ryan said. “I think I’m a really good passer and I can defend and do all those things. It’s just hard at times; other teams get paid too and it’s not like we just skate out there by ourselves. They have good players and they Can play ball.
“But yeah, I’m just committed to doing better in all areas.”
That’s why Ryan isn’t entirely content with putting three goals in the back of the net on the power play, saying he wants to start contributing at five-on-five while he’s still looking for his first goal.
Then he said, “But I will run away with it.”
The Canadiens aren’t going to take this win back, even if they beat a Sabers team that might be worse tonight than they were in any of their previous 10 consecutive losses.
The Canadiens smelled blood and immediately attacked, scoring the first two goals of the game and taking a 9-0 lead at the shot clock before the Sabers got their first shot on goal in the 10th minute.
The Canadiens looked to right their wrongs after an uncharacteristically poor performance on the power play in a 4-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday, and did so with the help of Ryan.
They also bounced back from the shootout, blowing up five chances against the Sabers — including a five-on-three opportunity — after holding the Jets to two goals and allowing a score for the fourth straight game.
In Tuesday’s penultimate penalty shootout, Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki stepped in front of a one-timer and blocked it, underscoring the value of the victory. Even facing such an opponent.
“Winning hurts,” St. Louis said. “You have to pay a price. You can’t just make these moves on a whim. We’re talking about getting our PK back on track, and not giving PK a goal in a 6-1 game helps to build PK’s confidence. In a 6-1 game, To take a bullet at that point in the game, I think it showed the commitment of the guys, that they were thinking beyond what was good for them at the time. Blocking the shot didn’t do Susie any good at that point – it was painful – — but what it does to the team is that this stuff is contagious.”
That’s what the Canadiens are looking for out of everyone in every game.
For Suzuki, it’s these things that help the team he leads, a team eager to improve, take a step further in the process.
He assisted on two of Ryan’s goals, bringing his total to 32 points in 31 games, but the block was as important as any goal or assist he’s had this season.
“I can’t ask someone to do something I’m not willing to do,” Suzuki said.
We can’t think of a more fundamental leadership quality, which reinforces why he was named captain and why he was awarded an eight-year contract in October 2021.
Suzuki is a big part of the Canadiens’ present and future.
Juraj Slafkovsky, who scored and had his best game of the season against the Sabers, was a reminder of why he should be the No. 1 overall pick in 2022 , and worked on it for the next eight years.
Long-term commitments have also been made to Cole Caufield and Kayden Gurler, Ryan Hutson is certainly heading down that path, and Abel Shekaj looks like a goalkeeper as well.
As the season progresses, Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook could prove they belong in that mix as well.
If Ryan combines the exceptional skills he’s always had with a commitment he probably never had (even in his first two very successful seasons), the Canadiens will get to where they want to go much faster.
There’s no guarantee he’ll do it, but the odds will improve as his love for the sport grows.
“Just keep working hard every day,” Lane said. “Hockey is fun, it’s fun to play, it’s fun to practice and try to get better, and I think I’ll keep at it every day and try to get better. There’s obviously a lot of room for improvement, especially over the long haul. After the break and trying to get back to where I was, it wasn’t by hoping or anything else just working, working, working and just doing that.”
