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Habs fall 4-1 to Penguins. Lines Shuffled & Galchenyuk demoted at practice |
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The Montreal Canadiens were clearly outmatched as the Pittsburgh Penguins handily defeated them by a score of 4-1 at the Bell Centre on Wednesday night. The Canadiens are certainly in the midst of a busy schedule as they just played their fifth game in eight nights and it will not get any easier as they will next play back to back games this Friday and Saturday night. The return of Alex Galchenyuk and Andrew Shaw to the lineup was supposed to rejuvenate the team and give them a boost through their tough January schedule. Instead, the Canadiens are looking like a very tired team with not a high enough compete level to last through 60 minutes.
Puck props and flops:
Props:
Tim Raines - The Montreal Canadiens were very quick to honor the former Montreal Expos outfielder who was finally elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame on his tenth and final year on the ballot. Raines will wear an Expos hat in Cooperstown, making him the third player to represent the franchise. He was one of the most beloved Expos of all time and is a big believer that there will once again be professional baseball in Montreal. His final push into the hall of fame would likely not have happened without the grassroots effort over the past few years led by writer Jonah Keri and Expos Nation founder Matthew Ross plus numerous others. Congratulations Rock:
Sven Andrighetto/Tomas Plekanec/Artturi Lehkonen - This trio was the Canadiens best against the Penguins. They were not on the ice for any of Pittsburgh’s goals and continually applied pressure and competed throughout the game. Andrighetto now has four points in his last five games and is playing very consistently though this stretch while Lehkonen continues to impress in his rookie season. Plekanec looks to be rejuvenated playing with the younger linemates and is playing like the Plekanec of old.
Flops:
Max Pacioretty - The Captain was a minus three against the Penguins. He was demoted in the second period from the first line to play alongside Phillip Danault and Andrew Shaw as Michel Therrien attempted to spark some life into the players. Unfortunately, neither line that Pacioretty was on played well. He was on fire throughout much of December and January but the Canadiens need him to be consistent, especially when up against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Nathan Beaulieu - The 24 year old rearguard continues to be the source of frustration for fans and his coaches. Beaulieu’s highs create a sense of excitement about his potential and future on the Canadiens. His lows can hit rock bottom and have fans ready to trade him out of town. When Beaulieu was on his game the coaches were able to depend on him in all situations as on occasion he even led defensemen in time on ice or was second only to Shea Weber. These past four games he looks as though he has lost his confidence and ability to make strong split second decisions. If he makes a mistake he is unable to recover from it. Beaulieu is a minus eight in his past four games and has been demoted to the third defensive unit. He is not the only defenseman to be struggling but Therrien was not going put Redmond on the third pairing. The only positive with Beaulieu on the third unit is that Therrien is able to roll all of his pairings more consistently so that the time on ice is distributed a little more evenly. Against the Penguins Beaulieu played 17:35 minutes and Weber’s game high was just 22:23 minutes.
Canadiens lack of intensity - Usually the Canadiens are quite motivated when they are playing against elite competition. They tend to be able to rise to the occasion as playing against the best tends to bring out the best in themselves. However, in the past ten days the Canadiens have now lost badly to three of the top teams (Washington, Minnesota and Pittsburgh) in the NHL and their lack of intensity during those matches is disconcerting. The team needs to dig deeper in these games and compete harder. In those three games the Canadiens only drew five penalties total. It is a sign that they are not working hard enough to draw penalties and get power play opportunities.
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Despite a busy weekend ahead of them, the Canadiens practiced on Thursday as they try to right the ship before the All-Star break. Therrien and his coaching staff plugged in his trusty blender and set it on high as new lines have been created in advance of Friday’s match in New Jersey:
Therrien has returned to the lines that were so successful in Galchenyuk and Shaw’s absence as the former has been bumped off the first line and Danault has reclaimed his spot in between Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov. Galchenyuk may need additional time to get back his timing and has had some previous although limited success with Andrighetto in the past. The line of Lehkonen-Plekanec-Byron has done well in the past as well. Therrien and J.J. Daigneault also decided to reunite Beaulieu with Petry on defense:
Beaulieu and Petry have worked well in the past. While Mark Barberio has worked hard to get from St. John’s back to the NHL, he simply does not have the same potential as Beaulieu and did not look any better next to Petry. Beaulieu and Petry know they have to make it work and that together they have the potential to contribute immensely to the Canadiens success. Communication will be the key for these two as too often they were not on the same page in their last few games together…
Cheers and follow along!
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