The Montreal Canadiens purposefully spent the third period of Game 2 searching for a goal without Patrik Laine.
Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis benched Laine for the final frame and gave right winger Joel Armia one shift while the team trailed the Washington Capitals 2-1.
Despite Laine scoring 20 goals in 52 games and taking the second-most shots per game on the Canadiens this season, the left-wing sniper sat and watched the team lose 3-1 to fall behind 2-0 in the first-round series. It's another game in a down month for Laine's production.
"They're decisions you make as a coach," St-Louis told reporters post-game. "I shortened my bench by a lot in the third. Honestly, I went with the nine or 10 (forwards) who I thought could help the cause."
The forwards St-Louis thought could help the cause include everybody but Emil Heineman (1:02 of ice time in the third), Armia (0:37) and Laine.
Christian Dvorak got 7:43 of ice time in the third after opening the scoring in the second period. His 33 regular-season points equalled Laine's total this season despite playing 30 more games. Josh Anderson logged 4:54 of third-period ice time after assisting on Dvorak's goal, and he had 27 points in the regular season.
That said, Dvorak and Anderson have five and four points in April, respectively. Laine only has two in 11 games.
One of the biggest reasons why the Canadiens acquired Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets in August 2024 is his scoring potential. He has 224 goals in 532 career games, including seven 20-goal campaigns.
From the time Laine returned from a knee injury on Dec. 3 to March 31, his 19 goals led the Canadiens.
In April, he only had one goal in nine games to finish the regular season, and he hasn't scored in seven outings.
While Laine did record an assist in Game 1 and took five shots in 13:14 of ice time, he only had one shot on net out of his five shot attempts through two periods in Game 2. He wasn't on the ice for any high-danger chances for his club, while the Capitals had six, according to naturalstattrick.com. He was also on the ice for only one high-danger chance for the Canadiens compared to seven for the opposition in Game 1.
April looks more like an outlier for Laine this season. He averaged at least 0.625 points per game in each month he played before April, and he had five goals in 12 games in March. His five game-winning goals are tied for third on the team.
That said, the Canadiens can't wait for May for Laine to bounce back. They trail 2-0 to the Capitals, with Games 3 and 4 taking place Friday and Sunday. They've only solved Logan Thompson three times so far.
Whether St-Louis assigns Laine different linemates or continues to give him opportunities for his scoring touch to re-emerge, something has to change for the coach to trust him to help the cause in the major moments ahead.
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