Though they came incredibly close to tying the game in the dying seconds, the Montreal Canadiens fell to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. Finding themselves down a goal on three separate occasions, they were always able to find something to get them back in the game, but constantly having to play catch-up saw time eventually run out on them in the third.
Part of the problem is that they’re still heavily reliant on production from their top line, but the good news is that they may be getting closer to figuring out a real option for next season.
Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki, and Cole Caufield had an expected-goals total of 2.05 just at even-strength, but scored their only goal on the power play. Games like that will happen, where the top line plays incredibly well but can’t quite produce at the rate their performance deserved. As this team looks to keep piecing together a winning lineup, addressing where the scoring comes from on those nights will be important.
It most certainly won’t be coming from the line they used as their second last night. Tanner Pearson, Jake Evans, and Josh Anderson were run over as a trio at even-strength, and were a liability, giving up two goals and mustering up enough offence for a paltry 3.27% share of expected goals, scoring none in the process. They might need to see their ice time cut going into the next game, because the line below them actually looked like they could be a real number two option behind the big dogs.
Joel Armia, Alex Newhook, and Joshua Roy were where the even-strength scoring actually came from on Saturday. For their part, a 72% share of expected goals, and two five-on-five markers made them a real threat against the Caps, helping to overcome the poor luck that befell the top line.
They were very effective in transition, scoring both of their goals as a result of good positioning and puck support on the rush.
At the very least, the iteration of the trio with Armia deserves a bump in ice time. They’re playing like a real second line, so the best thing to do would be to give them the minutes befitting their performance.
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