Montreal Canadiens

Julien tweaks his lineup as the Habs visit NYR for game 3
April 16, 2017, 3:27 PM ET [185 Comments]
Jennifer B Cutler
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Perhaps Montreal Canadiens head coach should be known as Mr. Fix-It. It was he himself who said that he does not panic, that he fixes things. His ability to make the right in-game adjustments in the Canadiens 4-3 overtime victory over the New York Rangers helped the team come from behind a 3-2 deficit after forty minutes of play and tie the series at one win a piece. What make Julien stand out is that he does not make big changes when things aren’t necessarily working. He observes and tweaks, making smaller adjustments that end up having a positive effect.

Tomas Plekanec played the unlikely hero as Julien rewarded him for an outstanding game, especially in the faceoff circle where he won 63% of his faceoffs. His shoulder was tapped to go on the ice with less than two minutes left in the game and Carey Price pulled for the extra attacker, something that has not happened for quite some time. Plekanec knew exactly what to do and went to the net where he was able to deflect Alexander Radulov’s perfect pass behind Henrik Lundqvist with less than 18 seconds left on the clock.

However, that was not the only adjustment that he made. Alex Galchenyuk was having a strong night as well and Julien rewarded him by pulling him out of purgatory on the fourth line and back to center between Andrew Shaw and Artturi Lehkonen. As Julien said, Galchenyuk had “jump” to his game. Shaw was starting to struggle as a center for the first time and Julien acutely took notice and did not try to force things. As well, King has yet to display his form from his Stanley Cup performance with the Los Angeles Kings a and was not contributing on the third line. Down a game already in the series, there is only so much patience that Julien could afford. Not only did Julien put Galchenyuk back at center but he also had him on the ice as the extra attacker with Carey Price on the bench. Galchenyuk proved that he deserved to be there as he earned the secondary assist on the game tying goal.

The final adjustment that Julien made was to eventually split his third defensive pairing of Nathan Beaulieu and Nikita Nesterov. The duo had a very difficult night together and Nesterov was especially shaky, playing just 13:05 minutes despite there being nearly a full extra period with overtime. Beaulieu was minus three on the night but his play did not directly cause a goal against. On Rick Nash’s goal the whole team made a bad change and Andrei Markov was slow to get back on defense while Mats Zuccarello's goal was a fortunate bounce off his body. He still played at least a semi-regular shift. What was interesting though is that Julien did not want to break up his other defense pairings as they were playing well. Instead he had Shea Weber, Jordie Benn and Jeff Petry take the occasional shift with Beaulieu and occasionally Nesterov.

With the series having moved to New York for games three and four, Julien is prepared to move forward with again making minor tweaks. Andreas Martinsen will be a healthy scratch for game three as Torrey Mitchell will get his first taste of playoff action this year, skating on the fourth line with Steve Ott and Dwight Kings. This was the fourth line that most expected to start the series and it is not surprise to see Mitchell getting the first opportunity to play of the healthy scratches. Nesterov and Brandon Davidson took repetitions next to Beaulieu at the morning skate and it will only be a surprise if Davidson does not get a chance to play tonight. Alexei Emelin did not travel with the team and has been ruled out for game three but not necessarily game four.

The Canadiens can expect the Rangers to come out hard and fast, wanting to prove themselves after being outplayed for the last eight minutes of the third period and overtime in game two. Henrik Lundqvist was sensational for the Rangers, stopping 54 of 58 shots thrown on goal. He will need better support tonight at home where the Rangers are not necessarily as strong compared to own the road. The Rangers are holding their cards close to their chest as they did not show any lines at their morning skate. Any changes will only be known later in the day or at the pre-game warmup.

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Of note, the St. John;s Ice Caps won on their last day of the season to clinch a playoff spot. They will face the Syracuse Crunch in the first round of the Calder Cup.

Puck drops at 7pm.