Will the Montreal Canadiens finally make some adjustments to kick-start their top-six in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning? We'll have to wait until the warmup to know...
The Montreal Canadiens won’t practice on Wednesday morning; they’ll only hold a press conference at their hotel around 11:15 AM ahead of Game 5 of their series with the Tampa Lightning. Tuesday, when they practiced in Brossard, it was impossible to know what Martin St-Louis intended to do with two forwards and one defenseman having a day off; the extras simply filled in for them.
It would be quite surprising if Martin St. Louis were to show his hand in his media availability. Chances are, we’ll only know if he’s decided to tweak his lineup when the Canadiens warm up at International Benchmark Arena.
A lot has been said (and written) about the top six failing to produce so far and the need for the coach to make adjustments. One name was the talk of the town yesterday: Oliver Kapanen. The rookie has failed to get on the scoresheet in his last 14 games, and many are suggesting that he should come out of the lineup.
Granted, he’s not doing great; he was pretty much invisible in the last game, aside from that much-talked-about high-sticking penalty. He was the least-used player by the coach; he received 10 shifts, totaling 7:32 of ice time. He’s not on the penalty kill anymore, and in the third game, he didn’t get any power-play time either. His role has melted as the series has gone on. Should St-Louis give him a shot with Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov before scratching him?
There’s an argument to be made for bringing Joe Veleno into the lineup. When he’s dressed, he can play on the penalty kill, which could give Nick Suzuki a break. With Kapanen not playing down a man anymore, the captain has been playing on the PK as well and saw 22:23 of action on Sunday night.
Furthermore, Veleno has shown a gritty side this season and a willingness to play hard on the forecheck, even if it had never been something that had defined his game before. That could make him a candidate to fill in for Josh Anderson in the bottom six, and the power forward, who has been very effective, could be promoted to the top six.
There could be a temptation to put Slafkovsky on the second line, which would free up a spot for Anderson on the top line. His style of play could help create some space for Cole Caufield and Suzuki, who have been unable to get on the scoresheet so far at even strength.
The problem with that is, however, that on trade deadline day, when Kent Hughes was speaking to the media, he mentioned that another GM had told him: “You can’t buy experience”. Granted, Kapanen has only been a shadow of himself in the postseason, but he is still gaining experience and learning how to cope with playoff hockey. The Finnish rookie should be part of the Canadiens’ lineup for years to come, which might not be the case for Veleno. Is it time to focus on results rather than on the process now that the finish line of this series is in sight? It could very well be, but we’ll have to wait until tonight to get the answer. So far, Jon Cooper has been very good at coaching on the fly, adjusting as needed, but St-Louis has pretty much stuck to his guns aside from putting Kirby Dach with Samuel Bolduc and Alexandre Texier.
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