Montreal Canadiens: Three Things To Love About Lineup Changes For Game 4

The Montreal Canadiens find themselves with their backs up against a wall in the Stanley Cup Final. They lost the first three games of the series and will now have to defeat the powerhouse Tampa Bay Lightning four consecutive times.

It is a difficult task for sure, as the Lightning are a deep and talented team and the toughest opponent anyone has faced in the NHL Playoffs in the past two seasons.

After using the same lineup for the first three games of the series, the coaching staff finally made some adjustments heading into Game 4.

The one changed getting the most attention is the scratch of Jesperi Kotkaniemi. He is second on the team in goals in the playoffs with five and is fifth on the team in points with eight. However, he will be sitting in the press box tonight watching his teammates try to stave off elimination and head back to Tampa Bay for Game 5.

While most Habs fans took to twitter to voice their displeasure about this decision, not everything about the lineup changes for tonight is terrible. Kotkaniemi has played well and deserves to be in the lineup, but so did a few other players that have been sitting recently.

Also, the top three lines have been shuffled around, giving the Canadiens a mostly new look for tonight’s must win contest.

Let’s take a look at the three best things about these lineup changes.

Romanov and Kulak Back In The Lineup

The Montreal Canadiens have been using the same top four defenders for the entire playoffs and that is not going to change. Ben Chiarot, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson have carried the load on the blue line and done an admirable job getting the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Final through will more than skill.

It has been the third pairing that hasn’t offered nearly as much. Jon Merrill and Erik Gustafsson were picked up for next to nothing at the trade deadline and have been on the third pairing for the first three games of the Cup Final.

The thing is, the coaching staff doesn’t trust them enough to ever put them on the ice together. Instead, they mix in here and there to give the top four defencemen an odd break throughout the game.

You will see the rare shift where Merrill plays with Petry and then Gustafsson will get a shift later on with Weber. But they aren’t really a third pairing because they are almost never paired together.

Brett Kulak showed in last year’s playoffs that he can be trusted to play a big role. This was before Edmundson arrived and Kulak played on the second pairing with Petry. He did a fine job limiting chances and moving the puck up ice to the Habs speedy and skilled forwards.

That is all that is needed from him. Keep things simple, don’t allow dangerous scoring chances against and move the puck up ice out of trouble. Kulak is adept at doing that and Alexander Romanov can be trusted to do the same. He plays a physical style but is also a great skater who can carry the puck out of trouble and move it out of the defensive zone in a hurry.

I’ll be looking forward to seeing this third pairing over Merrill and Gustafsson tonight.

Tyler Toffoli’s new linemates

The biggest change that the Canadiens are making tonight is to put Tyler Toffoli on a new line. He has played most of the playoffs with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield but that is not going to be the case tonight.

Toffoli will line up alongside Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher in what will be one of the more interesting trios the Habs have put together all year.

Danault and Gallagher have been joined at the hip pretty much since Danault was acquired back in 2016. They have had a few different left wingers, but have primarily played with either Max Pacioretty or Tomas Tatar. In Tatar’s absence this postseason, Jake Evans and Artturi Lehkonen have taken turns filling in on the line.

While this trio, no matter who the left winger has been recently, is a terrific defensive line and scoring chance generator, they haven’t been scoring enough goals.

Lehkonen’s overtime game winner in Game 6 against the Vegas Golden Knights propelled the Canadiens into the Stanley Cup Final, but it was one of his just three goals this playoffs. That actually matches Danault and Gallagher’s production combined. Danault scored his first goal of the playoffs in Game 3 against the Lightning and Gallagher has only two goals in 20 playoff games.

They play terrific defence, and create plenty of offensive chances. The problem with this line has been a lack of finish from Lehkonen and Evans.

Tyler Toffoli has been the team’s best goal scorer all year and he should get more chances than ever playing on this line. That will be a lot of fun to watch.