Brendan Gallagher has undergone a successful operation on the two fingers he broke while blocking Johnny Boychuk’s shot on Sunday evening, and is expected to be out for a period of minimum 6 weeks.
That raises an interesting dilemma for Michel Therrien, and during his press conference today he confirmed that it will be Devante Smith-Pelly who will line up next to Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec.
When asked about Alexander Semin potentially filling the hole left behind by Gallagher, Therrien made a good point about how the Plekanec trio often faces the best opposing lines. With that in mind, he believes that there’s no point in taking a chance with a player who’s “risky… and might not be able to keep the pace with the team captain and his center. In other words, Semin does not have the foot speed and, arguably, the work ethic to match the first line’s efforts.
With Smith-Pelly slated to fill that slot, there’s no question he will provide space and time for his line mates to make passing plays and shoot more often. If he wants to excel and potentially score more goals, he’ll have the mandate of crashing the net and distracting the goalies by creating screens and forcing the defensemen to clog up the area in front of the crease by trying to move his big body out of the way. With Plekanec’s intelligence and ability to creatively shoot the puck in areas that surprise goalies, Smith-Pelly will surely be able to cash in a few rebounds off of low shots. While he might not be the fastest player on the team, his offseason weight loss has helped him personally increase his speed in a way that will allow him to force opposing defensemen and supporting wingers to back up into their zone. Should Plekanec and Pacioretty not have options, they can cycle the puck back to the defensemen who can then take shots from the point.
Overall, there are a few strategies that the first line can use to take advantage of having Smith-Pelly as an addition.
In other news, Torrey Mitchell’s lower-body injury will keep him out of the lineup for approximately another week and a half, and Sven Andrighetto will continue to flank Lars Eller and Alex Galchenyuk with the hopes of potentially earning himself a permanent spot on the team. Last year, the winger showed that he is capable of putting the puck in the net if given the right opportunity to play on the right line. His presence will hopefully allow Eller and Galchenyuk to string together a few games where they can provide offense, as Andrighetto is fully capable of developing a lasting chemistry with his line mates.
Finally, Alexei Emelin was practicing alongside Jarred Tinordi and got the OK from team doctors to play in games. Michel Therrien would not reveal if the Russian defenseman will take Greg Pateryn’s place in the lineup.
Check back tomorrow for my preview of the Rangers-Canadiens game.