2019-20 Habs In-Depth Playoff Report Cards
B-. I like <a rel=. . . JAKE EVANS
MAX DOMI. C -. This postseason was truly disappointing for Max Domi. Despite starting out on the fourth line, which, let’s face it, did not allow him to flourish, he was bumped up to the top-6 by Kirk Muller and played 5 games in an offensive role. He also got prime power play time throughout the postseason and failed to capitalize on it. He registered a point in just one of the ten games, a 3 assist performance in Game 2 against Philadelphia. We all know how good Domi can be. When he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder, he’s decisive, gritty and dangerous. He just didn’t play with a chip on his shoulder in this postseason, which resulted in a lot of floating and low-energy play, which is the opposite of what you want to see from Domi. Who knows if Domi plays another game in a Montreal Canadiens sweater, I sure hope he does; he’s a talented player who scored 72 points just one year past; but, truth be told, I do not think he will, with the play of Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, <a rel=. .
Phillip Danault did not play well when placed on the top line with Tatar and Gallagher in the postseason. He did, however, thrive when on the “third” line with Lehkonen and Byron. In 10 games, he averaged 19:32 minutes per game, including 4:18 on the PK, which he excelled at; the opposing power play scored just once every 10:45 with him on the PK. Danault was also Montreal’s only reliable faceoff taker, winning 54% of his draws. He scored a single empty-net goal and had two secondary assists, so his production wasn’t really there, but he dominated possession against very strong opposition and defended very well. With Danault on the ice at even strength, the Habs controlled 57.24% of the shot attempts, 60.34% of the high danger chances and 57.42% of the expected goals. Despite this, the Montreal Canadiens conceded six even-strength goals with Danault on the ice while scoring just 5 (well short of the 7.31 expected goals for); this last stat shows that Danault was one of the least lucky Habs in terms of bounces going their way. While his possession numbers would merit an A-grade, his lack of offensive impact really drags his grade down, considering he was the #1 centre going into the postseason.. . . PHILLIP DANAULT. B+
A+. Jesperi Kotkaniemi was the most dominant Montreal Canadiens skater at even strength, full stop, a far cry from his regular-season self, to say the least. The young Finn really broke out in these playoff games, which forced the coaches to give him more and more responsibility, which only led to his play, improving even further. He averaged 13:53 minutes of ice time, but that is significantly pulled down due to the game in which he was thrown out at the start of the second period. Before this postseason, Kotkaniemi had always been a fairly lanky kid who easily lost his balance and didn’t use his powerful shot enough. That all turned around, Kotkaniemi used the break to recover from a ruptured spleen and to gain a whole lot of balance, strength and determination. Speaking of strength, Kotkaniemi actually used it in these playoffs, throwing a total of 36 hits, which was the second-most on the team, Ben Chiarot had 38, and Jeff Petry was third, with 30. Consider though, Chiarot played 92:32 minutes more than Kotkaniemi and still only led him by two; KK was <em><strong>physical</strong> (cue Olivia Newton-John)</em>. Kotkaniemi scored 4 goals in 9 1/3 games but did not register a single assist, which was mainly due to bad bounces and <a rel=. . . JESPERI KOTKANIEMI
A+. Nick Suzuki is the first Montreal Canadiens forward that has had the ability to routinely wow me; mind you, I’ve only been watching games with regularity since 2012, but those eight years still saw a lot of forwards come and go; this kid is something special. Suzuki completes passes that only the very best NHL players can, and yes, I believe Suzuki is on his way to be among the very best; who knows, we may have our very own <a rel=. . . NICK SUZUKI