MONTREAL – It’s that enjoyable time of the season when everyone’s two favourite games, hockey and musical chairs (obviously), come together.
The Montreal Canadiens are rife with injury – goalie Carey Price, Brendan Gallagher, Alexander Semin, Torrey Mitchell and Alexei Emelin are all sidelined with various ailments.
Now, there’s a whole new set of lines, numbers and faces to remember.
The Canadiens are facing an unusual problem: the team is so deep that coach Michel Therrien will have to make some tough decisions once everyone is back.
The first line
The new Gallagher-free top line sees the mainstays Tomas Plekanec and captain Max Pacioretty playing alongside Devante Smith-Pelly.
I admit, I had my doubts about Smith-Pelly.
When Marc Bergevin first traded for him I thought Smith-Pelly didn’t fit the Canadiens well.
But he’s proving that he’s a versatile player who can play on the first or fourth line with almost any teammate.
He is, as Therrien says, playing with jam.
The second line
Speedster Sven Andrighetto is the new feature to the Alex Galchenyuk–Lars Eller second line.
This was a guy playing on the rock with the Saint John’s Ice Caps just a few weeks ago.
Now, he’s a top-six winger in the NHL.
Andrighetto looked perfectly at ease using his speed to draw penalties and has found the back of the net twice this week.
What’s even more impressive is that he seems to really be filling Gallagher’s role.
This is a kid who has definitely made the most of his brief stints in the NHL.
Last season, he was called up for 12 games.
He scored in the first two, making it tough for Therrien to send him back down.
That’s exactly what you want from a player like this – he’s hungry to prove himself, he’s hitting his stride and now he’s showing that he can roll with the big boys.
It’ll be difficult for Therrien to justify carting him off to the AHL once Gallagher is back.
I expect to see much more of him before the season is through.
The fourth line
Christian Thomas made his first appearance on Saturday against the New Jersey Devils on the fourth line.
He was solid, showing speed with three shots and one hit.
But the bottom line is if you want to stay here, you have to produce on the scoresheet.
If he can find a way to do that, Therrien will have yet another difficult decision to make.
Too much of a good thing?
Speaking of finding stride, it looks like Max Pacioretty is back to his former self.
The team’s leading scorer looked more powerful on his skates than he has in the past few weeks.
Speculation was that he was suffering from a nagging soreness, but wasn’t injured enough to sit out.
The Canadiens are notoriously tight-lipped about anything injury related, so the rumours stayed in whispers instead of in press conference statements.
Whatever it was seems to be gone though as Pacioretty outmanoeuvred and outskated the Devils defence twice this week.
Once Price is back, he’ll be between the pipes. No question.
But is Therrien having too much of a good thing?
Emelin is back, but was a healthy scratch on Saturday night.
Therrien is liking the way Greg Pateryn is playing on the bottom pairing with Tom Gilbert and has no reason to change.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – right?
A potential battle for that last defenceman spot is brewing and that’s something fans should keep their eye on.
Will Therrien prefer the savvy, smart and safe Pateryn or the explosive and powerful Emelin?
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