The Montreal Canadiens are proving to be much more than a one-line team in their series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, something that has come as a surprise to many.
Three games into the Montreal Canadiens’ first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Habs’ first line has yet to make an impact at even strength. After producing four goals on the power play in the first two games, they’ve been completely muzzled in Game 3. Not only were they unable to generate scoring chances at even strength, but they were also unable to score on five power play opportunities.
While many pundits saw the Canadiens as a one-line team and believed that if Tampa could shut down the Suzuki line, they’d be in for an easy win in the series, Martin St-Louis’ men are proving them wrong.
In Game 1, it was Josh Anderson who showed Montreal was about more than one line. He was flying on the ice, dishing out hits from left, right, and center, and scoring the first goal of the series. The power forward set the tone for this series, and his punishing forecheck was a big part of the reason why the Lightning got frustrated and took so many penalties, leading to Slafkovsky’s power play hat trick.
In Game 2, Anderson stood out again with four shots, five hits and another goal. The line he formed with Jake Evans and Phillip Danault was responsible for 10 hits; the pair of centers won 15 of the 25 draws they took, establishing puck possession for the Canadiens time and time again. Meanwhile, Suzuki only won 41.9% of his faceoffs that night. Montreal lost the game in overtime, but that line still had a great night at the office.
Then, in Game 3, as Jon Cooper spent the night chasing the Suzuki-Cirelli matchup, the Anderson line was busy contending with Tampa Bay’s top line. The other two lines were freed up to do some damage, as Martin St-Louis expected, and they didn’t miss their opportunity. Alex Newhook, Oliver Kapanen, and Ivan Demidov were reunited. While they failed to get on the scoreboard, they were much more effective than when Alexandre Texier was on that line instead of Kapanen. They had eight shot attempts, and they proved a handful for the Floridian defense.
But it was the other bottom-six line that stole the show. The unit made of Alexandre Texier, Kirby Dach at center, and Zachary Boduc on the other wing made a big impact on the game, despite seeing limited ice time. Tampa Bay’s best defensive lines had their hands full with the Suzuki and Anderson lines, which, as Martin St-Louis expected, freed up the other two lines. Dach, playing to prove to everyone that the coach was right to keep him in the lineup, looked like an unstoppable force. Bolduc played with pace and competitiveness; he had six shot attempts, three of which made their way to the net, while Texier was much more visible.
Cooper may say he’s not worried about being down 2-1 in the series despite shutting down the Suzuki line, but there’s no doubt the Canadiens are proving to be quite a challenge for the Bolts, and that’s because they’ve got more depth than expected.
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