A Winning Habit
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The line the Montreal Canadiens must watch out for against Pittsburgh

By Omar L

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 12: (L-R) Juuso Riikola #50, Brandon Tanev #13, Teddy Blueger #53 and Chad Ruhwedel #2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrate after Tanev scored a goal against the Arizona Coyotes during the third period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on January 12, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. The Penguins defeated the Coyotes 4-3 in an overtime shootout. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 12: (L-R) Juuso Riikola #50, Brandon Tanev #13, Teddy Blueger #53 and Chad Ruhwedel #2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrate after Tanev scored a goal against the Arizona Coyotes during the third period of the NHL game at Gila River Arena on January 12, 2020 in Glendale, Arizona. The Penguins defeated the Coyotes 4-3 in an overtime shootout. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 12: Montreal Canadiens Pittsburgh Penguins (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

With the Montreal Canadiens playing the Pittsburgh Penguins, the focus has been put on Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but another line could be a pain.

When you think of the Pittsburgh Penguins, you automatically think of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. Similarly, when you think of the Montreal Canadiens, the likes of Carey Price, Brendan Gallagher and Shea Weber come to mind.

Claude Julien has likely been favouring his analysis on those top two lines, which will be getting the majority of the minutes and generating the most offence. Especially with Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary being reunited with Crosby, who they’ve both put up incredible numbers with. The focus has to be finding a way to contain them at 5v5 and limit their chances, but I also feel being more chaotic in the offensive zone should be a favourable mindset.

However, there is one other line the Montreal Canadiens need to be worried about, and it’s not one most teams concern themselves with. And that is their fourth line of Teddy Blueger, Zach Aston-Reese and Brandon Tanev.

Rewind the clock to the early 2000s, and this is a ridiculous take. Fourth lines were only put together for those energy shifts either laying big hits or dropping the gloves when things get sombre for their club. That philosophy has changed in today’s NHL as these lines have become contributors to contending teams, often getting special team responsibilities or having defensive roles.

Offensively, their numbers are what you’d expect. Tanev was the highest point-getter of the three with 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 68 games. Blueger and Aston-Reese had respective 22 and 13-point years. But their scoring isn’t the most important thing here.

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