The Montreal Canadiens practiced in Brossard on Thursday night, and there were some surprises in the lines and pairings coach Martin St-Louis deployed.
After having a much-deserved day off on Wednesday, the Montreal Canadiens were back on the ice on Thursday morning at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. Three players were not on the ice: Nick Suzuki, Kaiden Guhle, and Jacob Fowler. The first two had a maintenance day while the netminder was reportedly sick. There was one piece of good news, however: Alexandre Carrier was back at practice in a regular jersey, which indicates he should be ready to start when the puck drops on the Canadiens’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Of course, as Martin St-Louis put his team through its paces, it gave us a glimpse at what his lineup could look like for game 1, which is expected to take place on Sunday.
Cole Caufield- Joe Veleno (Suzuki placeholder)-Juraj Slafkovsky
Alexandre Texier – Alex Newhook-Ivan Demidov
Zach Bolduc – Oliver Kapanen – Kirby Dach
Jake Evans – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson
This is a surprising lineup. For most of the season, Kapanen played well with Demidov, and I think we’ve been able to see what Newhook is best when playing wing and taking a faceoff here and there in the right circumstances. Furthermore, I didn’t think Texier was particularly impressive skating with Newhook and Demidov earlier this week.
As for the third line, I fail to see how Dach has earned his place to start the playoffs. He has the size and shape to make a difference, but he doesn’t play the right style of hockey to use them. I’d also add that the consistency is somewhat lacking, and you never really know what to expect when he’s on the ice. Will he give you the right level of effort? That’s a gamble. Personally, I would have liked to see Anderson on that line.
No issues with the fourth-line players being in the lineup; they all play solidly and always provide the right level of effort. However, I feel that if Anderson were on the third line, either Veleno or Brendan Gallagher would be good options on the fourth line. Veleno may not put points on the board, but he has embraced his role as a hard forechecker and provides something the team needs. As for Gallagher, his performance on Tuesday was more than adequate, granted it was with a lot of rest. Still, he has always carbureted to playoff energy, and even if for leadership purposes only, I would have rather seen him in the lineup than Dach.
On the blueline, the pairings were as follows:
Mike Matheson-Adam Engstrom (filling in for Kaiden Guhle)
Lane Hutson-Alexandre Carrier
Jayden Struble-Arber Xhekaj
I have no issue with a Matheson-Guhle pairing, but a Hutson-Carrier one seems severely undersized and perhaps ill-suited to playoff hockey. As for Xhekaj and Struble playing together, I fear they may be exposed quite quickly by the Lightning’s high-octane attack. Over the last few weeks, the Hutson-Struble pairing worked rather well, and while an Xhekaj-Carrier pairing isn’t optimal, I believe it would be the safer option. This also means that both David Reinbacher, who was used as the seventh defenseman, and Engstrom would sit out for the first game.
Of course, with the playoffs starting in just a couple of days, St. Louis might not want to show its hand right now, and things could change quickly, but based on what we’ve seen in Brossard, it does seem like that would be St. Louis’ lineup if the series started tonight.
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