Habs News: NHL, Montreal Canadiens, Martin St. Louis, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Laval Rocket, Trois-Rivieres Lions

Despite collecting three of four possible points in the first two games of the road trip, Martin St. Louis stated prior to puck drop in Dallas that the team has not been playing to their standards.

It was no surprise that he would change up line combinations to try to stimulate the team. Splitting the duo of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield is not something that St. Louis has done since taking the reigns of the team.

Suzuki was matched on a line with Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia, while Caufield was paired with Kirby Dach and Mike Hoffman. The new trios did not generate any goals on the scoreboard.

“I feel [Drouin] has given us some good hockey. He’s looked good out there since he’s come back from injury, trying to put him in a position to be successful. I think [Armia] is still scratching the surface and I think there’s something there. Sometimes you try stuff and follow your instincts and see if it works,” St. Louis answered when asked about Suzuki centering a line with two players with no goals scored this season.

Another reason of the shuffled lines was that St. Louis wanted Dach to play at centre. Dach struggled at the faceoff dot winning only four of fourteen opportunities.

With Friday’s game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins being postponed due to weather, the Laval Rocket began their Christmas break one day earlier than scheduled.

Laval currently sits at the bottom of the North division with 24 points through 29 games. A significant regression in the standings as the team had collected eight more points at the same mark last season.

The Rocket are three points out of a playoff spot, but have played the most games compared to their division rivals. A tough task ahead for Jean-Francois Houle and his squad to attempt to repeat last season’s post season run that got them to the conference finals.

With Anthony Richard recalled by the Canadiens last week, Jesse Ylonen is the team’s leading scorer with 23 points in 29 games. The 23-year old has been dangerous on the power play collecting 13 points with the man advantage.

Justin Barron leads the defencemen offensively with 16 points in 25 games. Barron leads all AHL defenders with five power play goals. He is currently sidelined with a lower body injury and is a good candidate for a recall if Montreal needs some help on the blue line.

#Rocket Justin Barron leads all AHL defencemen with five power-play goals this season.

Here's a look at all five.

⬇️⬇️⬇️#GoRocket pic.twitter.com/9yUxHvK3QE

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) December 23, 2022

Defensively, the Rocket has allowed 3.86 goals per game on average. A difficult task to win games when four goals are needed on average each night.

The Rocket’s penalty kill has struggled all season, especially at Place Bell. Laval’s short handed unit is ranked 31st in the AHL at 70.2 percent, and 65.6 percent at home.

Laval resumes practice on Tuesday before hosting the Syracuse Crunch twice this week on Wednesday and Friday.

The Trois-Rivieres Lions’ Christmas break began on Wednesday night following a 2-1 victory against the Worcester Railers at the Colisee Videotron.

Trois-Rivieres is currently outside of the playoff picture because the Maine Mariners have the tiebreaker advantage over the Lions. Last season, the Lions had collected 29 points through 24 games versus the 25 points this year.

The main headline this season was Eric Belanger’s resignation on Nov. 22nd. Belanger was named the head coach of the QMJHL’s Drummondville Voltigeurs the following day. General manager Marc-Andre Bergeron stepped behind the bench to take over the coaching duties. Despite his title as interim head coach, Bergeron does not appear to be in a hurry to find a replacement.

The Lions penalty kill is following the foot steps of the Canadiens and the Rocket. Trois-Rivieres is ranked 26th out of 28 teams with 73.7 percent success shorthanded.

Anthony Beauregard leads the team with 11 goals and 19 points in 23 games played. He was recalled by Laval on Thursday. The Lions have also lost Olivier Galipeau, Pierrick Dube, Joe Vrbetic and John Parker-Jones to recalls by the Rocket. In addition, Colin Bilek was recalled by the Manitoba Moose, while Alex Breton signed a professional tryout with the Belleville Senators.

At the Christmas break, Anthony Beauregard leads the #Lions3R with 11 goals and 19 points.

Here's a look at his goals.
⬇️⬇️⬇️#ECHL pic.twitter.com/FnnPB0D8Si

— Chris G (@ChrisHabs360) December 24, 2022

The Lions conclude their five-game homestand by hosting the Adirondack Thunder on Tuesday and Thursday.