The Montreal Canadiens will face the Detroit Red Wings at the Bell Centre tonight, less than a week after they lost to 4-3 them at the Joe Louis. In that game the Canadiens nearly completed a comeback in the third period. With tonight’s game having much more meaning and playoff implications for the Red Wings, it is doubtful that they would soon make the same mistake of taking their foot off of the pedal. Detroit is tied with Philadelphia for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference with 86 points but sit in 9th place as the Flyers hold a game in hand. However, the Red Wings can also catch the Boston Bruins for 3rd place in the Atlantic division as they are only 1 point behind the Bruins.
The Canadiens on the other hand are simply playing for pride, playing time and positions for next year as they were mathematically eliminated from the playoffs following their 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers last Saturday night. Some are making a big deal of the fact that captain Max Pacioretty and Lars Eller did not know that the Canadiens were officially eliminated Saturday night. It could be read in a couple of ways. The players had already accepted their fate for the season and stopped paying attention to the standings. Is that a sign of their realism or of giving up? The answer is probably somewhere in the middle. On one hand the captain should especially be acutely aware of everything concerning the Canadiens. On the other, sometimes it’s better not to have that extra weight on their minds.
Marc Antoine Godin of La Presse has an excellent article and interview with Tom Gilbert who addresses the team’s lack of maturity while going through their troubling season. Gilbert suggests that the team lacked veteran leadership who could use past experiences to aid the team get through their dark periods. The Canadiens have veterans such as Tomas Plekanec and Andrei Markov but they are not the type to rally the troops. Without Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher in the locker room for much of the season, the Canadiens had a big void in leadership. It has been a tough 1st year as captain for Max Pacioretty and hopefully one that he will learn from. Gilbert also went on to say that the team looking for excuses, which completely goes against Therrien’s “No Excuses… motto in the dressing room. It appears that the lack of leadership starts with the coaches and trickles down into the locker room. The Canadiens do have someone in their farm system who could have helped, John Scott. No he would not help the team on the ice. However, his veteran presence could have greatly aided the team. He has been through alot in his career and is someone that Pacioretty could have gone to for advice. Would it not be better for Scott to be the team’s 13th forward than having De La Rose & Matteau sit on the sidelines when they could be further developing their game in St. John’s? Here is a link to Godin’s article:
Insightful comments from Tom Gilbert who says a certain lack of maturity caused #Habs downfall this year https://t.co/0KljUXyXYu (in French)
— Marc Antoine Godin (@MAGodin) March 28, 2016
The lineup against the Red Wings will be:
#Habs lines:
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) March 28, 2016
Pacioretty-Galchenyuk-Byron
Eller-Plekanec-Mitchell
Danault-DD-Andrighetto
JDLR-McCarron-Brown
Carr (non-contact), Matteau
Mike Condon gets the start in goal and Stefan Matteau sits while Jacob De La Rose gets back into the lineup. P.K. Subban will not play tonight and so the defence remains unchanged. On the powerplay, look for Michael McCarron to get 1st rep minutes playing on the right of Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty. The Canadiens can certainly use his big body in front of the net as they have been missing Brendan Gallagher’s presence. Gallagher has started practising in a non-contact jersey and will accompany the team on its upcoming Florida road trip.
TSN reporter John Lu shared this video from yesterday of Subban working on stickhandling with McCarron. This is a great example of a leader helping a young teammate as well as the McCarron’s willingness and desire to improve all facets of his game. This is McCarron taking advantage of his time with the big club and skilled players.
#Habs Subban doing a little stickhandling dexterity drill with Big Mac at the end of practice. VIDEO pic.twitter.com/02q0HLBNLU
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNMtl) March 28, 2016
Puck drops at 7pm.
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