Canadiens Game Day: Habs make lineup changes for Game 4 of Cup final
Kulak #Kulak
With the Canadiens facing elimination, head coach Dominique Ducharme will make some lineup changes for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final against the Tampa Bay Lightning Monday night at the Bell Centre (8 p.m., CBC, SN, NBC, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
Centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi will be a healthy scratch with Jake Evans taking his spot, while defencemen Alexander Romanov and Brett Kulak will be in the lineup replacing Erik Gustafsson and Jon Merrill on the third pairing.
Ducharme will move Tyler Toffoli into Artturi Lehkonen’s spot at left wing on a line with Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher, while Evans will be at centre between Paul Byron and Lehkonen. Josh Anderson will take Toffoli’s spot on a line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
Kotkaniemi has 5-3-8 totals in 19 playoff games and is minus-5. Suzuki leads the Canadiens with seven goals and is the only player on the team with more goals than Kotkaniemi in the playoffs. Toffoli and Joel Armia also have five goals each. Evans has one goal and no assists in five playoff games.
Romanov has only played two games in the playoffs with no points and is minus-2. Kulak has played 11 games with one assist and is minus-4.
“We want to have Jake, Lehky and Paulie, that’s a line that showed some really good things,” Ducharme said after Monday’s morning skate at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard when asked about the changes to his forward lines. “We haven’t used it much in the playoffs because of injuries mostly and at one point we were in a good run. We just want to see those three guys together. And then from there, it’s keeping Danault and Gallagher, Suzuki and (Cole) Caufield and (Eric) Staal’s line together. It’s nothing against KK or anything else. It’s just we have depth and we have options and that’s the way it is. That’s it.”
When asked specifically about the line of Evans, Lehkonen and Byron, Ducharme said: “Speed, can play against top lines. They showed it against McDavid in two games. Brought offence at the same time. Brings energy. Many things. So it’s a line that can be doing a lot of stuff on the ice and bring energy.”
Byron is hoping the line changes will give the Canadiens a spark offensively and create some energy.
“Offensively we haven’t created as much as we have (before),” Byron said. “For us a big start to the game would be huge for our team. If we can get off to a great start, play with the lead, we show how good our team can be. So I think that’s the most important part for our team is our start tonight.”
Defenceman Joel Edmundson said the Canadiens had good energy at the morning skate, realizing this could be their last game of the season.
“Everyone’s excited for tonight and we just want to come and show them how we can play,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve really shown the way we can play very often in this series so far. Game 2 was the closest we’ve done. But good energy, we’re excited for tonight.”
Talking with KK
Ducharme said he spoke with Kotkaniemi Monday morning about taking him out of the lineup. This will be the first time Kotkaniemi has been a healthy scratch since the first game of the playoffs against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I took the time to sit down with him and explain,” the coach said. “It’s not a punishment. Every player wants to play, wants to be on the ice, that’s normal. We have 28 guys right now and they all want to be on the ice. That we all understand. But it’s a matter of just options that we have in the team and what we want to achieve and just the combinations and sometimes that’s just the way it is as a hockey player. You just face those moments.
“We like KK, he played 75 games this year, he’s showed some good progression, had a good stretch in the playoffs,” Ducharme added. “It doesn’t mean that tonight he’s not playing that he won’t be back. So it’s just taking it one day at a time and we’re in that situation. We’re just preparing for tonight’s game and that’s it. He’s a good team guy, he understands the situation even though nobody wants to sit.”
Romanov returns
The only two games Romanov has played in the playoffs were Game 4 against the Winnipeg Jets in the second round and Game 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights in the semifinals. He has been a healthy scratch for the last eight games.
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Ducharme said the Russian rookie’s attitude has been great during that time.
“Everyone’s attitude’s been great,” the coach said. “Same with Romy. He’s been working every day and we said it — we’re working with him daily when he’s playing, when he’s not playing. That’s the same thing. What we want to see is we wanted to bring a little bit more skating on our back end with those two guys and we feel it’s important against (the Lightning) tonight and we’ll see.”
Looking for offence
Danault and Gallagher have combined to score only three goals in the playoffs.
Danault scored his first goal in the Canadiens’ 6-3 loss to the Lightning in Game 3, while Gallagher has two goals and has now gone 12 games without scoring.
Ducharme is hoping Toffoli can help those two get out of their scoring funk by putting him on their line, but Toffoli hasn’t scored in the last seven games.
“(Toffoli) played together this year with Phil and Gally at some point and he’s a smart player and can bring some offence to those guys, too,” Ducharme said. “That’s the reason of our decisions there.”
As for putting Anderson with Suzuki and Caufield, Ducharme said: “I think Andy can bring that speed. He’s hard on the forecheck and talking to him, talked about making sure that we have that net-front presence. I just felt a little bit that those three guys (Suzuki, Caufield and Toffoli) together were a little bit more outside. Really good off the rush, not spending as much O-zone time and I think Andy can help on that side.”
What about Tatar?
Tomas Tatar, who finished fourth in team scoring during the regular season with 10-20-30 totals in 50 games, will be a healthy scratch for the 16th straight game. He hasn’t played since Game 5 of the first-round series against Toronto.
““I like Tuna,” Ducharme said. “Tuna is a good player. It’s just a matter of combinations and playing at that time of the year. At this point, obviously, he hasn’t played in a while. It’s even maybe a tougher spot. But it’s all about the team and looking at combinations and what guys can bring together. We like the fit of our four lines tonight.”
You have to think Tatar — who can become an unrestricted free agent during the off-season — has played his last game for the Canadiens.
The lines
Here’s how the forwards lines and defence pairings looked at the Canadiens’ morning skate:
Toffoli – Danault – Gallagher
Caufield – Suzuki – Anderson
Byron – Evans – Lehkonen
Armia – Staal – Perry
Chiarot – Weber
Edmundson – Petry
Romanov – Kulak
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The schedule
Here’s the rest of the schedule for the Stanley Cup final:
Monday, July 5 (Game 4): at Montreal, 8 p.m.
x-Wednesday, July 7: at Tampa, 8 p.m.
x-Friday, July 9: at Montreal, 8 p.m.
x-Sunday, July 11: at Tampa, 7 p.m.
x-if necessary
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