Martin St-Louis didn't hide his frustration after the Canadiens blew a two-goal third-period lead and lost 4-3 in overtime to San Jose.
“There's no pills that you can take, there's no magic potion; winning takes what it takes,” St-Louis said Tuesday night.
“When you're up two in the third, the way you're playing, this game should be over.”
“I think we need to understand the score of the game and what we need at that time and what we don't need.”
That last line wasn't subtle. Montreal controlled long stretches of this one and still left a valuable point on the table.
Arber Xhekaj dropped the gloves at a key moment and picked up an extra two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct on top of it.
Then in overtime, with Montreal in possession of the puck, Jakub Dobes took an interference penalty that made no sense at all.
Jakub Dobes and Arber Xhekaj took the penalties that hurt most
Macklin Celebrini made them pay with a beautiful shot to end it.
The 20-year-old now has 14 points this season.
The goalie's penalty was the worse of the two. Taking an interference call in overtime, while your team has the puck, is the kind of mistake that hands away games.
Dobes is carrying a heavy load with Samuel Montembeault on injured reserve, and his .847 save percentage shows the strain.
Blowing a lead like this is like running a marathon at the front and stopping to tie your shoe 50 meters from the line.
Xhekaj, for his part, is still looking for his first point and has gone minus-2.
There was plenty to like elsewhere. Nick Suzuki has 12 points, and Cole Caufield has four goals over his last five games.
Montreal is 4-3-2, a young team learning the hard way how to close.
Protecting a two-goal lead late is supposed to be the easy part. For this group, it's turning into the lesson of the season.
Can they learn it on the road? The Canadiens visit Chicago on Friday, Winnipeg on Sunday and St. Louis next Tuesday, three chances to prove the message actually landed.
Did Jakub Dobes cost the Canadiens the game with his overtime penalty?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Devon Levi's reaction during a goal review sums up the Oilers' start
