Nick Suzuki will be one of the key factors against the Pittsburgh Penguins

You can’t cheat for offence against Crosby and Malkin. If either of those two lines tries, Price will be swimming in his crease trying to make stops, and both of those superstars have the resume they do for a reason. Because of that, a calm and calculated defence has to be the focus.

Suzuki, on the other hand, should be using his speed and skill set to drive play when he has the chance. In that case, Julien needs to play with him players who can keep up with playing at that pace and finish or, at the very least, cause chaos in front of the net. The downside is that Suzuki had the majority of his offensive success at 5v5 when playing with Domi and Artturi Lehkonen.

Slotting in with Lehkonen is a possibility. He’s had his bad luck with scoring, but his production has looked better this season. Jordan Weal can’t be on the right. To start out, it should be Paul Byron, who has the speed to match the pace of the line. And there is the chance he re-discovers the scoring that made him such a valuable player.

Alternatively, Julien could value Byron’s defensive play more and bump him to the second line with Domi and have Joel Armia on the right of Suzuki. That would be another serviceable combination given Armia’s breakout performance this season. He’s made better use of his size and skating to get in the right positions to produce, and a player with the IQ of Suzuki can set him up with Lehkonen crashes and bangs in the crease.

It’s going to be an ongoing process picking and choosing who plays where for the Montreal Canadiens. However, I’m sure the third line is going to have an important role in that series. And if the cards are laid out the way I believe they will be, that points to Nick Suzuki.