Gostisbehere & Fabbri Out, Czarnik back in, the Martin St. Louis effect in Montreal, and everything else you need to know before Red Wings-Canadiens
Tonight at Little Caesars Arena, the Detroit Red Wings will look to bounce back from a disappointing Tuesday night effort in New York when they host the Montreal Canadiens.
Nov 8, 2022; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Red Wings left wing Lucas Raymond (23) skates with the puck in the second period against the Montreal Canadiens at Little Caesars Arena. Personnel Update
Per Derek Lalonde, James Reimer will start in goal tonight for the Red Wings.
Amongst the skaters, Shayne Gostisbehere will be the healthy scratch on the back end, and Detroit has decided it doesn't make sense to use Robby Fabbri in consecutive games so quickly after his return from injury. That means Austin Czarnik will fold back into the line-up after being a healthy scratch in New York.
Lalonde praised Czarnik's versatility and noted that having a player like Czarnik (who is comfortable at center or on the wing) in the line-up can help with in-game tinkering with lines—allowing players like Joe Veleno or Michael Rasmussen to move up the line-up if the situation calls for it. Czarnik will start the game with Andrew Copp and J.T. Compher, but Lalonde suggested that his role is liable to change over the course of the game.
The Gostisbehere news is perhaps the biggest surprise of those decisions as he had appeared to make himself indispensable to Detroit's D corps via his work on the power play. With Gostisbehere out, Justin Holl will return to the line-up after he too was a healthy scratch against the Rangers.
However, at this morning's skate, the Red Wings showed a top power play unit featuring Dylan Larkin and Alex DeBrincat in their familiar positions, with Moritz Seider at the point, Jake Walman on the right flank, and Lucas Raymond at the net front. The second unit featured Daniel Sprong and David Perron on the flanks, J.T. Compher in the bumper spot, Andrew Copp at the net, and Jeff Petry on the point.
It's the first time this season that Detroit's top unit won't feature Perron and Gostisbehere, but after an 0-6 effort against the Rangers, it perhaps shouldn't come as a major surprise to see a shake-up. Lalonde described Gostisbehere's season-long body-of-work as "excellent," while acknowledging that the Floridian defenseman was not at the top of his game against the Rangers.
The St. Louis Effect in Montreal
In February 2022, the Montreal Canadiens announced a surprising coaching hire—electing to replace Dominique Ducharme with Martin St. Louis.
It's not that St. Louis lacked pedigree or know how; he was of course a familiar name to hockey fans based on his 16 seasons and 1,033 points in the NHL, but his only coaching experience was at youth levels.
In the 20 months since that hiring, St. Louis has shed the interim tag for the full-time gig in Montreal and rewarded GM Kent Hughes for whatever risk he took in making that hire. St. Louis has seemed to bring the most out of some of Montreal's young talents like Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, and he appears an ideal fit for a team oozing with youth and skill that might not be quite ready to compete for a Stanley Cup.
"A lot has impressed me about Marty," said Derek Lalonde after Wednesday's practice, when asked about St. Louis' style and approach. "One he beat me—it was a bunch of 14-year-olds a year ago in Florida. We were head-to-head in a AAA game, so I'm 0-for on that end against him."
Then, more earnestly, he added "I think there is huge value in being an elite player coaching. I understand it doesn't translate all the time. I know there's many examples of great players who haven't been great coaches. But I do think there's something of playing at an elite level translating to coaching. I see it with Alex Tanguay; I see it with Bob Boughner."
Of course, the bulk of St. Louis' career came with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and while he was gone before Lalonde arrived in the organization, his impact persisted.
"One thing and I won't forget it is Marty got named head coach, and I was literally sitting next to Steven Stamkos in the locker room and obviously him and Stammer are really good friends," Lalonde recounted. "And Stammer asked me 'What do you think?' And I'm like, 'What do you think?' He goes, 'it'll be an adjustment for him.' He said he'll be frustrated by players not being able to do some things that he's able to do, but he said Marty is so competitive he'll figure it out. And I think you're seeing that. You see Marty get a year in and time, and he's a modern coach and his relationships are excellent. He's patient with his players. I'm not in that room, but you can see how they operate and how he operates. He's done a really good job. I've been impressed. But in being around Tampa and understanding who he was there, I'm not surprised."
Despite the good feelings about what St. Louis can bring to Montreal in the long term, the Habs enter tonight's game having lost four straight.
Cayden Primeau will make his second start of the season tonight in net for the Canadiens. In his first (October 24th against New Jersey), he made 29 saves on 33 shots in a losing effort.
Where to Watch
Tonight's game (a 7:00 PM start) will once again be broadcast by Bally Sports Detroit—available on television or via streaming and BSD+. For out of market fans, it will be on its familiar home—ESPN+ and Hulu.