The pre-season is a time for working out some kinks, and getting ready for the regular season. For the Montreal Canadiens, one of the kinks they’ll need to work out pretty quickly was exposed on Friday night against the Maple Leafs. I’m referring of course to their power play, which sans Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield was a tragic comedy of errors.
On six opportunities, not only did they fail to score a single goal, they gave one up, and saw most of the scoring chances go in favour of the Leafs.
True though it may be that most of the players involved in these atrocious power play attempts won’t be primary unit members this year, the sheer futility of those attempts remains concerning. A number of players will be key options for the Laval Rocket, and offered little hope that they’ll do better in a different uniform. While we must keep in mind that Caufield and Suzuki will offer better looks for Montreal, one has to be a tad worried about what the farm team’s season has in store for them.
The decision to use Joel Armia, Jake Evans, and Brendan Gallagher late in the game on their final crack was also quite puzzling. None of these players figure to be top options for Montreal, though they’ll all be NHL players to varying degrees, and players like Joshua Roy, Jesse Ylonen, and Logan Mailloux were all sitting on the bench. The latter three are likely to be real options wherever they play, and if trying to work out some kinks, giving the opportunity to the youth would be more logical.
At any rate, Martin St-Louis and his staff know for sure they have some work ahead of them. They’ll need a serviceable second unit, and if that game was any indication, nobody involved is a viable option to play on it.
Bonus Highlights!
Joshua Roy’s ability to steal pucks is impressive.
Owen Beck has some dangles.
The Sheriff, as he does, was bringing the physicality.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available on your preferred podcast platform. We’ll be back after tonight’s rematch against the Leafs, sure to be played with different lineups.
