Canadiens’ Coach Trying To Complete The Puzzle With Two Big Missing Pieces

While the Montreal Canadiens didn’t get the result they wanted Thursday night against the Nashville Predators, Martin St-Louis at least made some lineup changes. Since day one, the coach has been looking for the right combination. The initial plan was to bring back Oliver Kapanen at second center, but he was unavailable. After two games, Ivan Demidov had to step away to deal with an injury.

In the last game, the bench boss returned to a trusted recipe, putting Juraj Slafkovsky back with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. As expected, the line operated smoothly; it looked like they were never apart. Unsurprisingly, they manufactured the first goal, although it was at four-on-four and Slafkovsky wasn’t on the ice.

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Putting Chris Kreider with Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson created a speedy line that’s a true forecheck menace. Kreider and Anderson are both big bodies you don’t want coming at you with speed when you’re playing the puck behind your own net. That’s how Anderson dispossessed Adam Wilsby and fed Newhook in front of the net for the second goal. They also lost a Kreider goal early on because of a missed offside call. St-Louis described that line as: “A lot of pace, heavy forecheck, physical.” He added that they use their feet on both sides of the puck, and when they are on the ice, the other team has little space. He labeled it a disrupting line.

Zachary Bolduc, Phillip Danault, and Alexandre Texier formed his third line. St-Louis kept it intact for a reason:

The coach called it a possession line that can extend offensive zone possession and added that they can forecheck too. Bolduc is off to a strong start and brings a lot of jump to his game; it looks like he’s learned a lot about intense hockey in the playoffs, and he’s not waiting for the spring to elevate his game.

While the pilot said they didn’t have passengers that night, he said little about the fourth line, made up of Florian Xhekaj, Jake Evans, and Kirby Dach. The younger Xhekaj saw only 6:24 of action, largely because he doesn’t play on special teams, while Dach was on the ice for 7:42, including 1:05 on the power play. On paper, Dach shouldn’t be a fourth liner, but night after night, his performance suggests he belongs there. Unfortunately, his presence makes that line’s identity hard to define. It feels like wherever St-Louis puts him, it’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, even when it’s in a hole Dach would like to fit in.

The puzzle is taking shape, but a couple of pieces are missing that the coach would sure like back. The situation could be worse, though; the Florida Panthers have already lost both Aleksander Barkov (for six to eight weeks) and Brad Marchand for a yet-unknown number of weeks.

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