The Montreal Canadiens will face what could very likely be their biggest test of the season as they prepare to host the Chicago Blackhawks Tuesday night at the Bell Centre. Since Claude Julien has returned behind the Canadiens bench for his second stint as the team’s head coach, his players have responded positively by winning eight of eleven games since the change. However, those wins have not always been of the pretty variety as the Canadiens needed overtime five times to earn victories not to mention coming from behind and last minute heroics in regulation. If the Canadiens are able to play a complete 60 minutes of hockey against the Blackhawks, it will go a long way in making believers of the team and their ability to compete come playoff time.
One of the few players who have not improved under the tutelage of Julien has been defenseman Alexei Emelin whose struggles have continued. At first he was demoted off of the top pair to play alongside Jeff Petry and finally a week ago he was a healthy scratch against the Vancouver Canucks. Since his return to the lineup Emelin has failed to impress as his on ice gaffes have persisted, ultimately costing his team. However, since he is a veteran Julien is seemingly giving Emelin the benefit of doubt as he will remain in the lineup on the second pairing against the Blackhawks. Instead, Nathan Beaulieu who played a season low of 13:26 minutes against the Oilers will be a healthy scratch as Brandon Davidson will take his place.
Looks like Nathan Beaulieu, Mike McCarron and Andreas Martinsen will be healthy scratches for #Habs tonight vs. #Blackhawks #HabsIO
— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) March 14, 2017
Does Beaulieu deserve to be taken out of the lineup over Emelin? It is difficult to argue for his benching. If anything, Beaulieu deserves more of an opportunity as he nearly always plays better when given more responsibility. As associate coach Kirk Muller continues to insist on a four forward first unit powerplay despite zero success with that formation, it has been Beaulieu who has seen his ice time limited without the extra time spent on special teams. Andrei Markov and Petry have formed the defense pairing on the second powerplay unit leaving nothing except perhaps a few seconds at the very end for Beaulieu. Going by the Canadiens powerplay statistics thus far, it could easily be argued that Beaulieu should in fact be on the team’s first unit alongside Shea Weber.
Beaulieu is tied for second in defensemen powerplay points on the Canadiens with Markov as they each have ten points, all assists. Petry is third with seven points. Beaulieu has played 108:57 on the man advantage while Markov has played 137:59 and Petry 122:56. According puckalytics.com though, Beaulieu points per sixty minutes played is 5.51 which is just behind Weber who leads all Canadiens defensemen with 5.56. Comparatively Markov is averaging 4.55 points per sixty minutes on the powerplay while Petry is fourth with 3.42. Think back to the last time the Canadiens had a consistently strong powerplay. It was back in January when Beaulieu was paired with Weber on the first unit while Markov was injured. The statistics certainly support this… Instead, while Beaulieu could help solve the Canadiens powerplay woes, he will be sitting in the press box. A healthy scratch. There’s logic for you. When asked about post the morning skate, Julien answered:
Julien on Beaulieu scratch: "I want all of our defencemen to be ready to play. We're healthy. Nothing against Nathan, want everyone fresh."
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) March 14, 2017
Julien said Emelin got a bad pass before Lucic out-muscled him for goal in EDM. "I liked his game."
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) March 14, 2017
It is understandable to want to get Davidson in the lineup. However, the weakest defenseman should be taken out. Fair is fair. The pass to Emelin may not have been very good but that should never be an excuse for getting out muscled. Emelin needs to be physical. He needs to be strong. That part of his game, which is the best part of his game has been missing in action for much too long.
The Canadiens powerplay will be:
#Habs power play (amended):
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) March 14, 2017
Byron - Galchenyuk - Radulov
Pacioretty - Weber
Shaw - Danault - Gallagher
Petry - Markov
Byron has been one of the Canadiens better and more consistent forwards as of late as he has regained his confidence, energy and surprising scoring touch. With 18 goals on the season it is understandable that he is being rewarded with time on the powerplay as he has had earlier success with Alexander Radulov and Alex Galchenyuk. However, it does not make as much sense to have Max Pacioretty at the point alongside Shea Weber. While Pacioretty is a capable playmaker, he is a goalscorer. As evidenced by his 33 goals scored this season. Of his 13 powerplay points, eight are goals. Perhaps Muller believes that Pacioretty and Weber present a dual threat to score from the point but slapshots from out far are not Pacioretty’s specialty.
While Phillip Danault has 32 points this season, he still only has one point on the powerplay in 44:30 minutes of time on the man advantage. Comparatively Tomas Plekanec, who will return to the lineup against the Blackhawks, has struggled with just 24 points this season but he has seven powerplay points in 71:12 minutes of ice time. Perhaps some extra powerplay time would be just the thing to help Plekanec regain his confidence in his offensive skills…
At even strength the Canadiens practices with these lines:
Trios du #CH à l'entraînement:
— Jonathan Bernier (@JBernierJDM) March 14, 2017
Pacioretty-Danault-Shaw
Lehkonen-Galchenyuk-Radulov
Byron-Plekanec-Gallagher
King-Ott-Mitchell#Habs
Oddly though, post skate Julien said:
#Habs Claude Julien plans to start game vs. #Blackhawks with lines that finished #Oilers game. That means Pacioretty-Galchenyuk-Radulov.
— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) March 14, 2017
Ideally, one would want a balanced four lines as the Canadiens would obviously be better off if they are able to get contributions from up and down the lineup. However, the Canadiens need to score with much more consistency and if they need to put all of their eggs in their basket in order to get the offense going, so be it…
Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin often refers to his former Blackhawks team as a model franchise. It is a fair statement considering thattThe Blackhawks have certainly had their share of success with winning three Stanley Cups since 2010. They have done so by continually building through the draft and with general manager Stan Bowman deftly managing the salary cap and seemingly finding ways to escape bad contracts without sacrificing the core of his team. Today, with 91 points the Blackhawks are just one behind the Minnesota Wild for the Central division lead. They are coming off of an emotional 4-2 victory over the Wild as they arrive in Montreal.
Chateaugay native Corey Crawford will get the start for the Blackhawks while the rest of the lineup will be:
#Hawks lines:
— Joey Alfieri (@joeyalfieri) March 14, 2017
Schmaltz-Toews-Panik
Panarin-Anisimov-Kane
Hartman-Kero-Hossa
Desjardins-Kruger-Tootoo
Hawks on D:
— Joey Alfieri (@joeyalfieri) March 14, 2017
Keith-Seabrook
Campbell-TVR
Oduya-Hjalmarsson
Former Blackhawks Andrew Shaw and Phillip Danault will certainly want to earn a victory against their old teammates. The Canadiens have lost six consecutive games against the Blackhawks. However, the Canadiens have Carey Price in their back pocket and that advantage cannot be discounted. Price has not allowed more than two goals in a game since the team’s bye week and sports a .952 save percentage in that time.
Puck drops at 7:30pm
Cheers and follow along! Follow @Jenbcutler