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Montreal Canadiens Drive for 25: Eller is Playoff Stellar

By Mat Germain

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PLAYOFF PERFORMER

Nobody can deny that both Lars Eller and Rene Bourque – oddly enough – were the vast majority of the offensive threat for the Habs in the 2013-14 playoffs. Not only did Eller finish with the second most points, his 13 pts behind only P.K. Subban‘s 14, but he also finished second in +/- with a +6. Oddly enough, Mike Weaver is a healthy scratch this playoff despite having the best +/- in the 2013-14 playoffs with a +8.

Apr 15, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens center Lars Eller (81) scores a goal against Ottawa Senators goalie

Andrew Hammond

(30) during the second period in the game one of the first round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

Now, just because you had an outstanding 2013-14 playoff it doesn’t entitle you to top-end playing time this year. But you do have to respect the effort and gains those players made and provide them the opportunity to prove it wasn’t a fluke the following season, don’t you?

According to Michel Therrien, no.

Instead, you withhold them from the vast majority of power play time, assign them to counter top lines, and deny them most opportunities to make good on their offensive talents. And then you publicly scold them for not scoring.

Did I miss something here?

Lars Eller took only 1 shot against the Ottawa Senators game one and scored a beautiful short-handed goal. He is an outstanding playoff performer. Take advantage of it Michel Therrien. If you don’t, you’re missing out on an opportunity that could come back to haunt you.

PP: PHYSICAL PLAY & POWER PLAY

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The Montreal Canadiens should be taking advantage of Lars Eller’s size, his skill, and his ability to play both sides of the game well. If Eller were to become more aggressive overall, I believe Michel Therrien would give him more playing time overall and, most importantly, on the power play. There’s no proof for this, but I do believe that it’s Therrien’s preference to give ice time to those he perceives as “playing hard” and it can be said that sometimes Eller seems to be coasting by.

Therefore, if I could whisper anything to Lars Eller it would be this: find yourself as one of the top hitters in the lineup, and you’ll get lots of power-play time. If not, we’ll have to continue to wait for you to create turnovers to get the majority of your scoring abilities.

 2014-15 SERIES

The Montreal Canadiens find themselves playing against a bigger team and need to get scoring from all lines to succeed. Lars Eller is a stellar playoff performer that needs to be given the opportunity to succeed. Make it happen, and there’s no doubt he can replicate last year’s playoff performance, or dare I say, exceed it!

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