Montreal Canadiens: Breaking Down the New Lines
By Omar L
It looks like line juggling that Claude Julien did in the Montreal Canadiens home opener loss on Tuesday are going to stay put for the next little while.
The Montreal Canadiens have to try a different approach at this point. For the last couple of games the team has been playing well and getting their chances, but has been unable to finish on a lot of them.
In the third period of the Chicago Blackhawks game, Claude Julien started to mix things around to spark the team:
- Artturi Lehkonen was moved to the first line right-wing
- Charles Hudon took Alex Galchenyuk‘s spot leaving him and Brendan Gallagher to play on the fourth-line
- Paul Byron and Ales Hemsky were both moved up to play with Tomas Plekanec
The blender didn’t result in any goals scored for the Montreal Canadiens, but the overall play improved. After looking at the lines in practice Wednesday morning, it looks like Julien liked the changes enough to give it another go moving forward.
The only difference was Hemsky was on the fourth line with Torrey Mitchell and Galchenyuk.
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Breaking Down Each Line
Top Line
Many fans have wanted to see Lehkonen play with the Jonathan Drouin and Max Pacioretty. He plays a similar style to Gallagher in that he’s relentless along the boards and can score in those dirty areas around the net. His shot isn’t talked about as much because he rarely uses it, but when he does it’s a laser.
This change gives the top line a little more skill to work with. If goals are going to start coming for the Montreal Canadiens, it’ll probably start there.
Response to the Change: Thumbs Up.
Second and Third Lines
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These two are actually pretty similar. You have the two defensive centers who can put up points on occasion (more so Phillip Danault than Plekanec), the grit player that will get the puck and take the hits (Andrew Shaw and Gallagher), and the fast player with skill (Byron and Hudon).
It’s hard to say if they’re guaranteed to score though. They’ll be able to sustain a lot of pressure, and hopefully be able to tap in a rebound or two.
Response to the Change: Shoulder Shrug
Fourth Line
I get it. I understand that Galchenyuk hasn’t been playing his best. He’s made timely turnovers and like the other players on the team, hasn’t been able to score. That being said, how is this going to help him? If this is just a punishment for him than ok, but there’s no way Julien thinks that he can score playing there can he?
Although the new line with Lehkonen looks promising, I still think that Galchenyuk’s best place to succeed is on that top line.
Response to the Change: Thumbs Down
What do you make of the line-up changes for the Montreal Canadiens? Will they work? Let us know what you think down below.