Canadiens Must Fix Their Power Play

Without Jacob Fowler’s fantastic form on Tuesday night, the Montreal Canadiens would have lost to the St. Louis Blues, and it wouldn’t even have been close. With the Habs taking only 20 shots on net and Jordan Binnington barely breaking a sweat, Fowler made 46 saves, looking like a wall. Of the 20 shots the Tricolore took, only two came on the power play, despite having three man-advantage opportunities.

While Ivan Demidov and Nick Suzuki’s absence makes things harder, the Habs still have talented players to use on their special teams. Their power play ranks 29th in the league: they've scored four goals on 35 opportunities (11.4% success rate) and have allowed two shorthanded goals. The captain scored one of those four goals, Lane Hutson scored one, and Zachary Bolduc scored the other two. Had his goal last night gone in a second earlier, he would have three power-play markers. Why, then, is he not on the first power-play unit?

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Wanting two defensemen on the blueline is understandable. Hutson brings mobility, and Noah Dobson can deliver a big shot from the back end. The American has a knack for walking the blueline and creating shooting lanes and opportunities, but in Demidov’s absence, he’s often been made to play off the wall, in the Russian’s usual spot. Perhaps the Habs want to replace Demidov’s creativity down low, but by taking Hutson out of his preferred spot, they are making it harder for him to produce.

On top of centring the first line, Oliver Kapanen has been catapulted to the first power-play unit. Unfortunately, he's won only 29% of his draws against the Blues, so he’s not the man you want at the faceoff dot in the offensive zone; he won’t help you establish possession. There’s a simple way to solve that issue: take the Finn off the man-advantage unit and replace him with Bolduc, but only once the draw is won.

If Phillip Danault can start the OT on the ice alongside Suzuki and Hutson in a three-on-three before making way for Cole Caufield once possession is established, why couldn’t he do the same at five-on-four in the offensive zone? Get control of the puck and buy some time while the pivot heads to the bench and Bolduc jumps on the ice. The winger has a good shot and can unleash one-timers, as he demonstrated against the Blues, but he can also go to the front of the net and tip pucks while taking away the goalie’s view.

Whatever happens, the Habs need to find a way to put pucks to the net on the power play. Fowler won’t provide superhuman performances every night. Sooner or later, the lack of power-play production will hurt this team unless they make serious adjustments.

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