It was a big day for special teams in Brossard today as they were the focus of the Montreal Canadiens' practice.
On Friday morning, we once again saw a new iteration of the Montreal Canadiens trading groups. Florian Xhekaj, David Reinbacher, and Adam Engstrom were back in Group A, but Owen Beck remained in Group B. It was hard to tell what the lines would be, since the usual lines appeared to be split, but as practice progressed, it became clear it was a special-teams-focused session. That is why Chris Kreider wore white while Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki wore red, and why Oliver Kapanen wore white while Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov wore red.
Furthermore, with another split-squad game on the horizon against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, it wouldn’t be surprising if Martin St-Louis wanted to split his special teams as he did in the split squad against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He'd keep his power-play guys in Montreal and send his PK guys to Ottawa to face the Sens’ best squad. Unsurprisingly, the coach wouldn’t confirm anything after practice, aside from the fact that Owen Beck will play, and said the lineup was still under discussion.
However, what he did confirm was the fact that, with the forwards being given a more active role in the PK structure the Canadiens will be playing under Derek Lalonde’s supervision, they could be tasking more forwards with penalty-killing duties:
Yeah, you have to manage ice time, so it’s possible.
Not the most elaborate answer, but on the ice, at least three duos took reps: Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson, Kreider and Jake Evans, and Alex Newhook and Kapanen. It’s also no secret that captain Suzuki likes to play on the penalty kill; why wouldn’t he? He’s a great defensive forward and has a Frank J. Selke Trophy to show for it:
I think I’m still part of that, but I was working on the power play. […] It takes time when you’re learning something new, but I think the killers have done a great job through the preseason and practice. […] Yeah, it’s probably going to change depending on who’s available and what’s going on with ice time and stuff, so I've got to be able to know everything. I think I can be a good killer when given the chance, but I play a lot already, so you probably want to get guys out there and not have them sitting on the bench. Having specific roles for guys is probably important for that.
Looking at the reps on the ice this morning, it was clear that Lalonde wants the penalty killers, especially the forwards, to be more proactive on the ice, take the pressure to the opponent rather than brace for the attack and defend as well as possible. When asked about the fact that a lot of veterans appeared destined to play on the PK, St-Louis explained:
It’s not like we’re trying to reinvent the wheel here; the system we’re going to use is one used a lot in the league, and guys have already played it. Right now, it’s just about getting everyone on the same page.
It will be interesting to see whether the new PK system pays off right away, because if the Canadiens hope to improve on the 106 points they put up last season, being better on the PK would certainly go a long way.
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