Ek’s Note: Karine is doing an outstanding job as always, and with the big game 4 to night I wanted to give her some guest time in my space. I am back today from our family trip and going to be working with Kevin Allen on updating the rumor chart.
Down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup final, head-coach Dominique Ducharme has finally decided to mix things up. Clearly, he intends to lighten the defensive workload on the Danault line by bringing back a very good shutdown line in Byron-Evans-Lehkonen, this change has come at the expense of Jesperi Kotkaniemi who will no play tonight. There's no doubt that the pending RFA would have liked to be part of the line-up in such a pivotal game, but it just wasn't to be. Ducharme did mention that it was nothing about the Finnish centre, but that he really likes the shutdown line and hasn't been able to use it much in the playoffs so far, because of injuries.
On the blue line, fans and medias alike will be happy to know that Gustafsson and Merril will both be healthy scratches tonight, meaning that Kulak and Romanov will both be brought back in the fold. Ducharme explained that change by the need for more dynamics skaters out there.
Also worth noting is the fact that both both Toffoli and Anderson have changed lines. For the former, he'll be getting first line duties alongside Danault and Gallagher, while the latter will complete the Suzuki and Caufield duo. I've spoken about the shutdown line already and the 4th line remained unchanged. Ducharme says that it gives the team a lot of quality minutes in the offensive zone as they are great at protecting the puck.
Tonight, the Canadiens will have to deliver on the ice or pack-up for a Summer which will be a lot shorther than what we've been used to lately, and fans will no doubt be grateful for that at least. Once again, the game is scheduled for 8:00 PM and we'll see if the changes can spark some magic out there, over to you Habs, make us proud.
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