Montreal Canadiens interim head coach Martin St. Louis has noticed his club exuding an important trait lately.
"Confidence. I think to be successful as a team in this league, and as an individual, I think you need some swagger, and I think we're building a lot of swagger right now," St. Louis told Sportsnet's Eric Engels after a 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night.
"Swagger is not cockiness or arrogance; it's just believing in yourself and feeling good about yourself," the bench boss clarified. "And I think we have that."
The Canadiens jumped out to a 5-0 lead against the Maple Leafs before cruising to their third consecutive victory and their second in as many days. Montreal is 3-3-0 since firing Dominique Ducharme and replacing him with St. Louis on Feb. 9.
The Habs, who remain the NHL's worst team by both points and point percentage, have begun to turn things around since the coaching change.
Cole Caufield, Jeff Petry, and Josh Anderson have all come alive offensively. Caufield, the preseason Calder Trophy favorite who struggled mightily for most of the campaign, has scored five goals in the six games under his new head coach.
Petry, the typically steady defenseman who's in the midst of a disappointing campaign, has produced two goals and three assists in the last four contests. Anderson, who the Canadiens signed to a hefty contract after acquiring him in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets for Max Domi, has collected three goals and an assist in the last two games, including two markers and a helper Monday.
Montreal has the 30th-ranked expected goals for percentage at five-on-five in the NHL this season, but it's been the 23rd-best team in that regard since St. Louis took over, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Habs sit 29th in scoring chances for percentage, but they're 22nd during the new coach's tenure.
