1. 3-on-3 overtime
The Canadiens have been hopeless beyond regulation time this season. Their 6 OT/SO losses are the most in the league, which on the surface seems alright as it means the Habs have bagged 6 extra points. What’s not as great is that the Habs have only played in 6 games that have gone to overtime, losing four in 3v3 play and the two others in the shootout. In the Habs’ last five defeats, three came in OT and one was settled in the shootout.
Before Claude Julien’s firing, Nick Suzuki stated that this team needs to play to win rather than to play not to lose, which is exactly what the Canadiens have done at 3v3 this season. The proof, quite simply, lies within the players sent out in OT. Danault, Armia, Chiarot, Weber and Byron have all played big minutes in overtime, and with reason.
Danault wins faceoffs and defends, Byron skates like the wind, Weber has a cannon of a shot and can defend, Chiarot scored multiple OT goals last season and Armia has many tools. However, despite these qualities, none of these players should touch the ice at 3v3. Danault is the least threatening forward this team has, Byron is barely hanging on to a spot in the lineup, Armia bumps into his own teammate in OT (when he only has 2 teammates on the ice!) while Weber and Chiarot are too slow for 3v3 play.
Overtime is the situation in which highly-skilled, quick and mobile players thrive. It is not a time to send out checking forwards or big, lumbering defencemen. And the Canadiens’ doing so has cost them a few points so far this season. Quite a few fans were complaining on Thursday that Brendan Gallagher got no ice time in OT, which I disagree with. I think he should be fairly low on the list of forwards to send out at 3v3, his strengths don’t shine when there are so few players on the ice and his foot speed isn’t ideal either.
I am of the mind that the Canadiens should rotate 6 forwards and 2 defensemen in OT. Jonathan Drouin is tailor-made for 3v3 play, Josh Anderson’s speed is a great asset, Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are smart enough to find dangerous passing lanes and capitalize on late backchecks, while Tomas Tatar has a good shot and is fairly quick; lastly, Tyler Toffoli makes up for his slow footspeed by getting regular breakaways through reading the play at a high level. On the backend, only Jeff Petry and Alexander Romanov have the speed, mobility and shots necessary to pose a real threat in OT.
Playing not to lose has resulted in the Canadiens losing games in overtime, change is needed in that respect and these 8 players would pose actual threats to the opposition, unlike the Danaults and Byrons of this world.