Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis is optimistic about his team's future despite being ousted from the Eastern Conference Final by the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
"It should put gas on the fire," St. Louis said postgame Friday following a season-ending 6-1 loss in Game 5, according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet. "It should make them feel hungry."
St. Louis noted that he dealt with setbacks in the postseason during his playing career before winning the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004.
"I remember my first experience losing in the second round of the playoffs," the 50-year-old said. "I was so upset on the bus because I couldn't believe I had to go through another 82 games before I get to have this fun.
"I think that when you taste that, it makes you hungrier, because we've had a lot of fun. There's been waves and stuff, but it's been unbelievable to go through it."
Montreal was outscored 15-4 and outshot 139-67 in four straight losses after opening the series with a 6-2 victory. The Habs hadn't reached a conference final in a full season since 2014.
Defenseman Lane Hutson believes the Canadiens will now have a target on their backs in the Atlantic Division and across the NHL after their success as a young squad this campaign.
"These teams are hungry, they're coming, they see what we're doing, and we're not sneaking up on anyone necessarily," Hutson said. "We feel like expectations are we're supposed to be one of these teams, so we've just gotta bring it right from the start and bring a playoff mentality to training camp."
The Canadiens will have their locker room cleanout day Monday.
