The Montreal Canadiens won't dress anyone new tonight, but they'll have to play differently if they want to tie the series.
After the Montreal Canadiens morning skate on Wednesday, Arber Xhekaj, Brendan Gallagher, Patrik Laine, Jacob Fowler, and Samuel Montembeault remained on the ice, working overtime. This indicates there should be no roster changes to the team that lost the last two games to the Carolina Hurricanes. That’s not to say there won’t be any changes in the way the Habs attack the game.
After generating only 25 shots on net in the last two games combined, Montreal has to make some adjustments. Frederik Andersen has been very beatable in this series with a low save percentage, but the Canadiens have been unable to take advantage. Essentially, the Canadiens have been smothered into submission, and if they want to extend their season, they’ll have to break that pattern.
That starts by using their speed, both physically and mentally. Unfortunately for Gallagher, he doesn’t have the foot speed needed to be a key player in this series. As for Xhekaj, he doesn’t make his reads quickly enough to integrate the lineup. Carolina plays a very aggressive forecheck, which gives the Canadiens very little time to evaluate their options and make the right play.
However, it’s time to make some changes. In the first-round, when it was time for Martin St-Louis to admit that he couldn’t win the matchup duel with Jon Cooper if he didn’t alter his lines, he made the changes. Now, the coach has to sell a simple concept to his players, and one that he has sold them before: they need to do the things that are not fun to do on the ice to win. That includes forgetting about the fancy plays that the Habs’ top talent can do; they don’t have to dazzle with their playmaking, they have to get pucks on net, and the goals will come.
No more no-look back passes to try and put on a show, it’s time to roll up their sleeves and put on their working boots. Put the puck in deep and fight for it. Don't try to enter the zone with the puck on your stick when there’s a whole team waiting there to dispossess you; that hasn’t worked. Big players who can bring speed and physicality have to do that. Josh Anderson cannot be the only forward to go looking for the puck deep behind the goal line; Juraj Slafkovsky has got to do it, Zachary Bolduc has to go there as well, just like Joe Veleno and Kirby Dach.
The coach has to find some balance between his lines and put a player on there whose mission will, first and foremost, be puck retrieval. Slafkovsky could play that role on a line with Ivan Demidov and Alex Newhook. If the latter struggles on faceoffs, Jake Evans could come in for those and swap with Demidov once puck possession has been established. Evans could join Kirby Dach and Joe Veleno on the fourth line, while Bolduc could replace Slafkovsky on the top unit. As for the Alexandre Texier, Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson, they’ve been the Canadiens’ best line in these playoffs, and should keep going.
If St-Louis doesn’t make adjustments, the Canadiens may join the Colorado Avalanche on the golf courses sooner rather than later.
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