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Montreal Canadiens: 5 Key observations from the Pittsburgh Penguin game

By Omar L

MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 13: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins battles for the puck against Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on October 13, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a shootout. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 13: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins battles for the puck against Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens during the NHL game at the Bell Centre on October 13, 2018 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in a shootout. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
MONTREAL, QC – OCTOBER 13: Montreal Canadiens Pittsburgh Penguins (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

2) Mobile blueline

I didn’t watch many Pittsburgh games this season, but a player who I was surprised to notice so much was defenceman John Marino. The 23-year-old was taken in the 6th round of the 2015 draft by the Edmonton Oilers but made his NHL debut this year with the Penguins putting up 6 goals and 20 assists in 56 games.

But it wasn’t only him, the entire Habs blueline is very mobile moving in and out of the rush. You’d expect it from Kris Letang and Justin Schultz, yet that entire second pair of Marino and Marcus Pettersson wasn’t afraid to carry the puck into the zone or play down low. Marino is a good combination of mobility and strength as he shrugged off Kevin Hayes to set up Zucker for a scoring chance in front.

That’s something the Montreal Canadiens need to watch out for defensively, but something they can make use of offensively. With defencemen playing low, the Habs can use their speed to blow the zone and head to the other end of the ice if there are holes in Pittsburgh’s structure. Overall, there’s no guarantee the Pittsburgh Penguins clean up all of their mistakes, so Montreal will need to capitalize on any and all chances given (i.e. the Malkin turnover).

3) The fourth line is going to be a problem

No one’s first response is to think of a team’s fourth line as a threat. That said, Pittsburgh’s fourth line is-a-threat.

I explored the strengths of the trio of Teddy Blueger, Zach Aston-Reese and Brandon Tanev, noting their ability to prevent scoring chances at 5v5. They showed off their usefulness against the Flyers being very heavy in either zone, and at times, that heaviness led to chances on both Murray and Tristan Jarry.

The Habs can’t get into an outwork contest with those guys. If they’re on the ice, they have to get the puck out of their zone as quickly as possible and continue to keep the puck moving between bodies. That line uses their bodies to force turnovers and park in front of the net waiting for deflections, second and third rebound opportunities or from below the goal line passes.

Another thing is Mike Sullivan isn’t afraid to use that line in more situations. They nearly played as many minutes as the third line of Patrick Marleau, Jared McCann and Patric Hornqvist but was also getting assignments against Philadelphia’s second line. Speed is going to be especially key against those three, and if not speed, they’ll have to try to out-muscle them to ensure they maintain possession.

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