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For many, last night was about three goals for Alex Galchenyuk; the first hat trick of his NHL career; the youngest Hab to score one since Stephane Richer. Not to deflect from Galchenyuk's sterling accomplishment, but for me, last night was more about the net effect of separating Max Pacioretty and David Desharnais.
It was arguably Pacioretty's best game of the season, which is interesting because he didn't score any goals. His underrated passing game got some notice because he was finally playing with a centreman that could finish his plays.
It was an electric first for Galchenyuk, not only because he scored three goals, but because all of them were gorgeous. But lost in all of that was the fact that it was also the first time in Pacioretty's NHL career that he recorded three assists in a game. And all of them were primary assists. He gifted Galchenyuk two of the three goals--not taking credit away from Galchenyuk for getting himself into position to finish those plays--and sent him in on a breakaway for the other one.
Until Galchenyuk found the net in the second period, Desharnais was writing the game story. He was great on most of his shifts with Brandon Prust and P.A. Parenteau, and set up the former for the game's opening goal with a beautiful play.
As a result of moving down the lineup, shifty Desharnais is benefiting from less demanding match ups, and the team is benefiting too. He's finding some offensive consistency, which is critical considering his role.
Getting back to Galchenyuk, his three game sample as Pacioretty's centre sure looks good. His line managed a goal against Vancouver--Brendan Gallagher's shot off the half wall--though he didn't get an assist on the play. Against Los Angeles, he was a -1 in a 6-2 win, and even though he struggled a bit in his own end, he also had some great shifts there too. Last night, against Carolina, he managed three goals in just 14:05. In the three games, his faceoff percentages were 62%, 69% and 55% respectively.
The next two games--against Anaheim and Ottawa--will provide some perspective on Galchenyuk's durability in his new role. The upcoming five game road trip--if Therrien's to be patient enough to keep Galchenyuk in his place--should give Marc Bergevin a very strong sense for what balance he hopes to achieve at the team's centre ice position. But if things continue in this manner, the Canadiens may have found an explosive combination for their top line. ****************
1) My brother texted me this morning to say there's a very simple solution upon Eller's return the lineup: Put him in Malholtra's place.
Hard to disagree with the notion.
On the one hand, it's hard to sit down a veteran who's done precisely what's been asked of him. On the other, Malholtra doesn't exactly color outside the lines. There's not much versatility to his game outside of what he does so well in the faceoff circle. And with four other centres on the team above 50% in the dot...
Naturally, the faceoff percentages for the other centres may drop off a bit with Malholtra on the sidelines, given that he gets assigned most of the tough draws. But, with Eller's defensive awareness and all-around game, with Desharnais taking advantage of easier match ups, how do you not play your four best centres in their natural positions?
Maybe you don't even have to scratch Malholtra to make it so that Galchenyuk, Eller, Plekanec and Desharnais all have their place up the middle. That might be tough to swallow for Sven Adrighetto, who's surely making his way back down to Hamilton, and it might be tough for Michael Bournival, who isn't getting much of an opportunity to cement his place as a regular fixture in the lineup, but that's the way the depth cookie crumbles.
If Malholtra sits, it won't be prolonged. If Bournival sits, it might be prolonged, but he'll have his chance at spot duty. But it sure would be interesting to see the Canadiens play with their four best centres playing in their positions, battling for ice-time.
2) It was so obvious that Michel Therrien was trying to wash out the blow back of an inevitable demotion for Andrighetto by playing him out of relevance in last night's game. After practicing in his spot next to Jiri Sekac and Plekanec on the heels of three really good games with them, he pushed Andrighetto down to the fourth line and promoted Dale Weise in his place. He could argue he was looking for more of a defensive look on the line, but just a couple of nights previous, he was lauding Andrighetto's responsible play.
Maybe Therrien wanted to see what Andrighetto could do on the fourth line so he could choose between sending him or Bournival down to Hamilton.
The weird thing is, Therrien broke up a combination that managed three goals in the previous game. Dale Weise had literally nothing going with Sekac and Plekanec. And Malhotra, Andrighetto and Bournival couldn't offer anything either, and all of that was obvious after one period painfully obvious after two, and the game started to slip slightly out of control before Pacioretty and Galchenyuk put it on ice.
People were muttering to themselves about the fact that the Canadiens should've dominated last night's game. But with the composition of the roster, they had two lines playing great, and two lines that looked absolutely disjointed. An easy fix was in the making, and it never came.
3) I'm curious what the general consensus is on Alexei Emelin's game last night. What did you guys think?
4) What does it mean for Nathan Beaulieu that he can't seem to crack 11 minutes of ice-time despite some pretty good hockey?
Bryan Allen's played five games with the Canadiens, and he was used more than 11 minutes in four of them.
Mike Weaver's played between 12-19 minutes in 23 of the 26 games he's played this year.
The Canadiens are 9-1 in the last 10 games Beaulieu's played in. They're 12-5-0 with Beaulieu in the lineup.
5) One assist, +3, 2 shots on net, one delay of game penalty (it happens), two big blocks right in front of Carey Price, 26:12 for Andrei Markov. He played a great game.