Martin St-Louis didn't bother hiding it. After Alex Newhook buried the Game 7 overtime winner in Buffalo, a TVA Sports mic caught the Montreal Canadiens bench reacting in real time.
The audio leaked Thursday morning. And the head coach's two words say everything about what that series cost his group.
"F***ing right."
That was St-Louis seconds after the puck crossed the line. No PR voice, no measured tone, just raw release after seven games of hell against the Sabres.
The clip shows Newhook getting mobbed at the boards while a cameraman scrambles backward. You can see the bench emptying. You can almost feel the relief.
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It fits the moment. Newhook had been Montreal's most clutch forward in the series, and the numbers back it up loudly.
Newhook's playoff explosion changed the math in Buffalo
Through 14 playoff games, Newhook has 7 goals and 9 points with a +5 rating. Two of those goals were game-winners. He earned the swearing.
Compare that to Nick Suzuki, who put up 13 points but sits at minus-5 across the same stretch. The captain's been the setup man. Newhook's been the finisher.
Cole Caufield has 4 goals and 9 points but a brutal -7 in the playoffs. The top six hasn't carried this run the way Montreal expected back in October.
That's why Newhook's overtime winner mattered beyond the scoreboard. The Canadiens needed depth scoring to survive Buffalo, and the $2.9 million center delivered it.
Now comes the harder part. Montreal flies into Raleigh tonight for Game 1 against the Carolina Hurricanes, on no rest and against a roster built to suffocate exactly the kind of transition game the Habs lean on.
The Canadiens did beat Carolina twice in late March during the regular season. Different stakes, different opponent in May.
And here's the question nobody on the Montreal bench wants to answer out loud: can Newhook do that again? Because if he can't, the top six has to wake up fast.
St-Louis won't get another hot mic moment if the third line goes quiet. He'll get questions instead.
Should Martin St-Louis ride Alex Newhook in a top-six role for Game 1 vs Carolina?
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