The second Montreal Canadiens squad are up to take on the Florida Panthers with new line combinations to explore including Nick Suzuki with Paul Byro.
The Montreal Canadiens have won each of their two preseason games and will be on the hunt for the third against the Florida Panthers. Wednesday’s match saw Ryan Poehling, as well as the Jake Evans line, stand out the most and now it will be Nick Suzuki’s turn to turn heads.
The lines have changed a bit for Suzuki as he’ll have Paul Byron on his left instead of Charles Hudon who played the day before. Bryon is known for his speed and drive, down low which should compliment Suzuki and Weal well. His situation in training camp is still relatively the same in the sense that it will be more difficult for him to make the team in comparison to Poehling making each opportunity an important one.
Brendan Gallagher is another main Habs forward set to make his preseason debut. Gallagher put up 30 goals for the second season in a row and considering he doesn’t know the meaning of, “It’s just the preseason,” he should bring some fire to the lineup.
Another thing to look at is the play of Nate Thompson. He brought some fire to the Montreal Canadiens during the game against the New Jersey Devils and is one of the few things standing in the way of Poehling making the team.
Forward Lines
Artturi Lehkonen –Max Domi -Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron – Nick Suzuki – Jordan Weal
Phillip Varone – Nate Thompson – Dale Weise
Alexandre Alain -Luke Vejdemo – Michael Pezzetta
Defence Pairs
Brett Kulak – Josh Brook
David Sklenicka – Xavier Ouellet
Goaltending
There won’t be a split in this matchup as Price is expected to play the full 60. It’ll be good for Price to start getting into a rhythm and playing a game start to finish is the best way to do that.
As for the Florida Panthers, the Habs are unlikely to see the Aleksander Barkov line as they were in action on Wednesday.
Les alignements pour le match de ce soir au Centre Bell. pic.twitter.com/cKd9XU493X
— William Julien (@WillJulien97) September 19, 2019
The likes of Brett Connoly, Keith Yandle, newly signed Anton Stralman, and Vincent Trochek will be in the lineup so it won’t be smooth sailings just because the top line isn’t dressed. Again, it’s about the process. As much as it feels good to win, seeing the little things fall into place and be well-executed goes a lot further.
Luckily Aaron Ekblad played in the previous game as well so Domi shouldn’t get himself into trouble again.