Habs News: Montreal Canadiens, Carey Price, Brendan Gallagher, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Cole Caufield, Philip Danault, Shea Weber, Marc Bergevin, Dominique Ducharme

ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — The Canadiens finished the 2020-21 regular season with five consecutive losses. They won only five of their last 15 games of the year. It doesn’t inspire confidence heading into the post season.

The Habs have eight days between game 56 against the Oilers and game 1 versus the Maple Leafs this Thursday, in order to reset and throw the tape of the end of the season out the window.

Toronto won seven of the 10 matches against Montreal this year. Four of the games finished with a one goal differential, including one overtime victory for each squad.

Montreal’s last playoff appearance was in the bubble over the summer when they lost to Philadelphia in the first round, after defeating Pittsburgh in the qualifying round. Toronto lost to Boston in their last appearance in 2019.

It’s the first time that the Canadiens and the Maple Leafs will face each other in the post season since 1979. It will be exciting to have the rivalry rekindled through the upcoming series.

“I grew up watching the Leafs every Saturday night. It’s one of those things throughout my career, every time I got a chance to play against Toronto or Montreal, those are the teams that made me fall in love with the game,” Eric Staal said about the rivalry. “At this point in my career, the opportunity to play them in the playoffs, it doesn’t get much better.

“I think both fan bases are very proud of their teams, and I’m sure a lot of people are going to be having a lot of back-and-forth on social media,” Carey Price added on Sunday.

Kotkaniemi and Caufield Out

Early indications from the practices held in Brossard over the weekend indicate that Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cole Caufield will not be on the ice in Toronto for the start of the series. Over the last two days, they were lined up with Michael Frolik on the fifth line. Dominique Ducharme cautioned on Saturday that changes can be made before the puck drops at Scotiabank Arena.

I’m not surprised that Ducharme has relegated Kotkaniemi as an extra. He’s been the only player along with Nick Suzuki to have played all 56 games this season. Kotkaniemi is scoreless in the last 24 games, amassing four assists since during that stretch that began on April 1st. It has been a disappointing performance during this stretch for the 20-year old.

Since his National Hockey League (NHL) debut on April 26th, Caufield is tied for second with Tyler Toffoli with four goals scored, trailing Suzuki that has scored six times during that sequence. Considering that Caufield has received significant less ice time than Suzuki and Toffoli, the number is impressive.

Caufield is a natural goal-scorer. No one can take that away from him, and I think he has shown in a small sample size that it has the potential in translating into NHL success. The 20-year old needs to continue developing his defensive zone coverage. I anticipate that Ducharme will likely slot Caufield into the lineup in game 3, when he has more control on matching the rookie in favourable situations.

Shutting Down Matthews & Marner

In order for Montreal to beat Toronto in the best-of-7 series, they will have to prevent Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner from being a significant impact. In the head-to-head this year, Matthews collected 14 points, while Marner collected 11 points in 10 games.

On the road, Maple Leafs’ coach Sheldon Keefe will have the advantage to put on his star players in a favourable matchup. “We’re going to need our four trios, we’re going to need our depth. we’re going to need our 15 forwards, and all our defencemen to have success,” Ducharme said on Sunday.

The line of Artturi Lehkonen, Jake Evans, and Paul Byron showed during the final stretch versus the Oilers that they can be a force against elite forwards.

“They’re two elite players. They’re superstars, so it’s normal that they pick up points every game or almost every game,” Philip Danault said. His line with Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher will likely have the task of being matched up against Toronto’s top players.

“They’re the types of players who find each other everywhere on the ice and they get in prime position to score goals. It’s tough to counter. When you manage to do it, though, it’s very rewarding. It’s tough to play against them every night. They’re excellent players.”

“He’s definitely got a deceptive release, and you just have to react to it, try to read it as best as possible. He’s got a world class shot, and we need to try and take that opportunity away from him as much as possible,” analyzed Price.

Matthews scored two goals in four games against Price this year, both during the February 20th contest. Marner has also scored twice against the Habs’ started this season.

Time to Deliver

Marc Bergevin built this roster for the playoffs. Since last year’s playoff appearance, the general manager purposely added six Stanley Cup winners to the team. We will find out starting Thursday if his strategy will pay off.

The good news for Montreal is that Price, and Gallagher will be ready to start the series following their respective injuries that forced them to miss significant time at the end of the season. Both players were reassigned to the Rocket for conditioning purposes and will play on Monday against the Marlies.

“I’ll be good to go. You don’t put on that sweater without the expectation of bringing it all for your teammates every night. I wouldn’t put myself in the lineup if I didn’t think I was going to be 100 percent,” said Gallagher.

“[Price] is calm, he’s in control and he’s a competitor. The guys know that he’s going to rise at the right time, like now. The guys know he’s going to be at his best. That’s why he’s got that impact on the team,” said Ducharme.

Shea Weber didn’t practice this weekend, however the coach is confident that the captain will be ready for Thursday. Weber’s last game was on April 28th with an undisclosed upper body injury. (Note: No one tell the Maple Leafs about the splint on his left hand that was leaked and deleted by the Canadiens social media team.)

I think Toronto has the advantage over Montreal up front. The defence and goaltending is in Canadiens’ favour. Montreal’s bigger players like Weber, Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, and Josh Anderson will need to make life difficult for Toronto’s forwards.

I believe the Maple Leafs will come out victorious in a long series against the Habs, but considering Toronto’s recent playoff history, you can’t rule out an upset.

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By Chris G., Senior Writer
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