There were several shortfalls that led to the Montreal Canadiens' 8-3 loss in Game 6 of the second round against the Buffalo Sabres. However, the Canadiens' head coach, Martin St. Louis, kept the atmosphere light with quick wit while talking about his side's loss.

The 50-year-old Canadiens' head coach refrained from criticizing his players harshly while addressing the situation during the post-game press conference. Firstly, St. Louis spoke about how good they are in “bouncing forward” from tough situations, and stressed the need to do the same in the winner-takes-all Game 7 of the playoff series versus the Sabres.

While the widely used proverb for such situations is called "bouncing back," St. Martin explained his "bouncing forward" remark, saying, “I just feel ‘bounce back,’ [is] you come back to where you were. [But] ‘Bounce forward,’ [means] you’re actually further than where you were. He also said, "Physics," to justify his choice, which triggered an array of laughs in the space.

However, the Canadiens' big-margin defeat in Game 6 poses a massive question: Does the team have enough left in the tank to win the decisive Game 7 against the Sabres?

In the last few weeks, they have managed to fight back from a loss 10 times in a row, including the playoff games' bounce-backs versus the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Sabres.

However, given that the Canadiens know how to come back after a defeat against the Sabres, the side can hope for positive results in Game 7.

But while St. Louis didn't resort to a harsh approach to address the Canadiens' game 6 loss, he did highlight a few issues that led to the debacle. Apparently, the team needs to work on them to achieve better results in Game 7.

What were Martin St. Louis’ thoughts on the Canadiens’ effort in Game 6 vs. the Sabres?

The Montreal Canadiens scored all three of their goals in the first period before getting blown away by the Buffalo Sabres in Game 6 of the playoff series. From a 3-1 deficit at one stage in the first period, the Sabres went on a rampage in the second and third periods, scoring three goals in each to force a series-deciding Game 7 at home.

Martin St. Louis was appreciative of the opposition’s performance while lamenting his Habs for not keeping things tidy for most of the game. As per Chris Galanopoulos of Rocket Media, he said, “You have to give credit to the other side; they played a very good game. We didn't have much calm or poise. It's tough, you have to live through these moments to learn.”

“These are stressful moments for players who want the result. It's loud, there's a lot of chaos, and tonight we didn't see things clearly through that chaos. We are better than that. It wasn't a good game for us.”

Notably, St. Louis had made a key change with 10:02 remaining on the clock in the third and final period of Game 6 in the playoff series. He replaced goaltender Jakub Dobes with Jacob Fowler for allowing six goals on just 33 shots. Fowler saved one shot out of the two in the last 10 minutes of the game.

The decisive Game 7 of the Eastern Conference playoff series semifinal will be played on Monday, May 18, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

Which side are you picking to win Game 7 and advance to the Eastern Conference finals? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Arjun Sharma

Edited by

Souvik Roy