Mon. 7 PM, Oilers @ The Habs, TSN2, RDS, SNW, TSN 690

[kinot-2]

TONITE, THOSE SLIPPERY OILERS COME TO TOWN.

 Is this Eric Staals debut with the team? Who will come out if he does? 

[BigTed3]

1 hour ago, kinot-2 said:

TONITE, THOSE SLIPPERY OILERS COME TO TOWN.

 Is this Eric Staals debut with the team? Who will come out if he does? 

Well it's one of Byron, Lehkonen, or Evans. Rumor was that Staal might play with Suzuki and Anderson but then Perry had a good game in that spot, so maybe Staal just starts on the 4th line. Lehkonen was bad last game and he's been benched frequently under Ducharme, so reasonable to assume he's lowest man on the totem pole...

[jennifer_rocket]

Hopefully the team can continue stifling McDavid.  Would love to see a nice dominant team win!

[tony5775]

Stall playing with Drouin and Tofolli. Might work. 

Price left pratice early after getting hit with a puck. Something that did not happen on Saturday night.

 

[campabee82]

Just now, tony5775 said:

Stall playing with Drouin and Tofolli. Might work. 

Price left pratice early after getting hit with a puck. Something that did not happen on Saturday night.

 

Once again Kotkaniemi gets shafted! If I am KK I am starting to think about requesting a trade out of Montreal! The poor kid does everything right works his ass off and gets a line going then gets given piss poor wingers for driving his line. MB and DD need to stop this nonsense! No idea why they keep doing this to KK but it is getting ridiculous.

[H_T_L]

Looks like Evans is the odd man out.

[Regis22]

Carey Price just left the morning skate without doing his regular routine. He was hit by a puck on his right hand per Renaud Lavoie

[habs1952]

 

Morning skate:

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Perry - Suzuki - Anderson
Drouin - Staal - Toffoli
Byron - Kotkaniemi - Lehkonen

Staal also saw time on the first power play unit.

[maas_art]

Projected lines:

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Perry - Suzuki - Anderson

Drouin - Staal - Toffoli

Byron - Kotkaniemi - Lehkonen

 

So i know that some people are upset about JK on the 4th. A few things:

1) Even though i done love those wingers, JK with Byron and Lekhs have been awesome the last couple of games. I can see why the coach doesnt want to break them up.  4 effective lines is better than 2 or 3.
2) DD has been rolling all his lines pretty evenly. Its entirely possible JK gets more icetime than the Danault or Staal Lines.
3) DD also likes to change things up a bit so dont be surprised to see guys moved around. 
4) That "4th line" has the potential to absolutely dominate the other team's 4th if we get the matchups.  Of course the flip side is that Staal on the 4th should do the same. 

And finally, I have read fans on twitter & other boards saying JK should ask for a trade... he's 20 years old. He's here for the long haul. A couple of games at "4th line" if you could even call it that, will not hurt him and I highly doubt he considers it a demotion.  

[kinot-2]

First power play

Weber – Drouin – Staal – Suzuki – Toffoli

Second power play

Petry – Kotkaniemi – Tatar – Perry – Gallagher

[maas_art]

18 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

First power play

Weber – Drouin – Staal – Suzuki – Toffoli

Second power play

Petry – Kotkaniemi – Tatar – Perry – Gallagher

Thats probably, on paper at least, the best 2 units of PP we've had in... gosh I dont know, 25+ years? 

[RCAF48]

I liked JK between Byron & Lekhs.  He played some of his best hockey with those two wingers. JK is a young man still learning to be an effective NHL centre, I doubt he thinks he is owed anything.  Maybe Staal can get Drouin's scoring rate above .06 goals a game , it is worth a try and DD can easily change it up if it doesn't work.

 

[CaptWelly]

45 minutes ago, maas_art said:

Projected lines:

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Perry - Suzuki - Anderson

Drouin - Staal - Toffoli

Byron - Kotkaniemi - Lehkonen

 

So i know that some people are upset about JK on the 4th. A few things:

1) Even though i done love those wingers, JK with Byron and Lekhs have been awesome the last couple of games. I can see why the coach doesnt want to break them up.  4 effective lines is better than 2 or 3.
2) DD has been rolling all his lines pretty evenly. Its entirely possible JK gets more icetime than the Danault or Staal Lines.
3) DD also likes to change things up a bit so dont be surprised to see guys moved around. 
4) That "4th line" has the potential to absolutely dominate the other team's 4th if we get the matchups.  Of course the flip side is that Staal on the 4th should do the same. 

And finally, I have read fans on twitter & other boards saying JK should ask for a trade... he's 20 years old. He's here for the long haul. A couple of games at "4th line" if you could even call it that, will not hurt him and I highly doubt he considers it a demotion.  

I agree with this. JK has looked better lately , that said overall he hasn't been tearing it up all season and he usually does look better when matched up against the lower lines on the other teams.

[campabee82]

1 hour ago, maas_art said:

Projected lines:

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher

Perry - Suzuki - Anderson

Drouin - Staal - Toffoli

Byron - Kotkaniemi - Lehkonen

 

So i know that some people are upset about JK on the 4th. A few things:

1) Even though i done love those wingers, JK with Byron and Lekhs have been awesome the last couple of games. I can see why the coach doesnt want to break them up.  4 effective lines is better than 2 or 3.
2) DD has been rolling all his lines pretty evenly. Its entirely possible JK gets more icetime than the Danault or Staal Lines.
3) DD also likes to change things up a bit so dont be surprised to see guys moved around. 
4) That "4th line" has the potential to absolutely dominate the other team's 4th if we get the matchups.  Of course the flip side is that Staal on the 4th should do the same. 

And finally, I have read fans on twitter & other boards saying JK should ask for a trade... he's 20 years old. He's here for the long haul. A couple of games at "4th line" if you could even call it that, will not hurt him and I highly doubt he considers it a demotion.  

Here is the issue with this statement, for me if you play JK's line more than Danault or Staal's then you are giving more ice time to Byron and Lehkonen as well who have done nothing to prove that they deserve the added icetime.

As far as the last line goes for me, KK is a young guy trying to make a name for himself and every time he proves he should be in the top 6 with the best wingers he gets saddled with the likes of Lehkonen and Byron. KK was awesome with Toffoli and Anderson on his wings yet when that line strung together 3 great games Anderson was moved to another line and I believe Armia was his replacement. Same thing happened when Gally was on that wing. Now because Staal comes in (who BTW has numbers worse than Byron this season) KK gets saddled with Byron and Lehkonen again. Why is it that Suzuki wasn't moved to that role? Suzuki has been having an absolutely horrible month (maybe more) he has not earned those minutes or wingers. KK is the 2nd best FO center on the team only a few fractions of a percentage behind Danault and Suzuki is the worst! If I was JK I would be pissed and knowing that I was an RFA this summer I would be demanding fair treatment or promising a long long summer for MB!

[electron58]

3 hours ago, campabee82 said:

Once again Kotkaniemi gets shafted! If I am KK I am starting to think about requesting a trade out of Montreal! The poor kid does everything right works his ass off and gets a line going then gets given piss poor wingers for driving his line. MB and DD need to stop this nonsense! No idea why they keep doing this to KK but it is getting ridiculous.

Actually,  I'm OK with this unit. They'll play against a weaker line, & KK will get his PP time. So, really, win win for KK.. Plus, it gets him away from Drouin,  who can't finish. 

[CaptWelly]

41 minutes ago, electron58 said:

Actually,  I'm OK with this unit. They'll play against a weaker line, & KK will get his PP time. So, really, win win for KK.. Plus, it gets him away from Drouin,  who can't finish. 

I'm okay with this also. A balanced attack is much harder to defend against. Also it hasn't been "JK has got this line going" it's been more like the wingers have propped him. He's young and if he can't handle any diversity he'll have a short NHL career. It should always be 'team" first individual second. JK is young he's already been playing a lot of PP time ( He's terrible in the point position and looks lost a lot on the pp )and getting the softer assignments.  

[H_T_L]

I doubt very much these are set lines for the balance of the year. 

[campabee82]

53 minutes ago, electron58 said:

Actually,  I'm OK with this unit. They'll play against a weaker line, & KK will get his PP time. So, really, win win for KK.. Plus, it gets him away from Drouin,  who can't finish. 

What was wrong with Toffoli-KK-Anderson? That line dominated when they were together and with the way Tatar-Danault-Gallagher have been playing they need to stay together as well. So may as well lineup

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher

Toffoli-KK-Anderson

Drouin-Suzuki\Staal-Perry

Byron-Staal\Suzuki-Lehkonen

Why does KK always need to be the one saddled with Byron and Lehkonen espescially when he has been one of our best forwards over the last 2 or 3 weeks

[H_T_L]

4 hours ago, Regis22 said:

Carey Price just left the morning skate without doing his regular routine. He was hit by a puck on his right hand per Renaud Lavoie

He will get the start tonight.

[HabsAlways]

2 hours ago, campabee82 said:

Here is the issue with this statement, for me if you play JK's line more than Danault or Staal's then you are giving more ice time to Byron and Lehkonen as well who have done nothing to prove that they deserve the added icetime.

As far as the last line goes for me, KK is a young guy trying to make a name for himself and every time he proves he should be in the top 6 with the best wingers he gets saddled with the likes of Lehkonen and Byron. KK was awesome with Toffoli and Anderson on his wings yet when that line strung together 3 great games Anderson was moved to another line and I believe Armia was his replacement. Same thing happened when Gally was on that wing. Now because Staal comes in (who BTW has numbers worse than Byron this season) KK gets saddled with Byron and Lehkonen again. Why is it that Suzuki wasn't moved to that role? Suzuki has been having an absolutely horrible month (maybe more) he has not earned those minutes or wingers. KK is the 2nd best FO center on the team only a few fractions of a percentage behind Danault and Suzuki is the worst! If I was JK I would be pissed and knowing that I was an RFA this summer I would be demanding fair treatment or promising a long long summer for MB!

Yup I am with you on this ... completely disgusted the over the hill Staal gets good wingers, and KK gets shifted down to 4th line ... and you're right, playing that line more than the others means you're also playing Byron/Lehks more.   Just a brutal stupid move.

[HabsAlways]

Nick has 5g 17a , Jesper has 5g12a ... the difference is the fact that we've yet to see Nick get saddled with bottom six wingers while JK is consistently saddled with them.  If Jesper had Toffoli/Anderson constant for 5-10 games he might just have a ton more points too.   I knew as soon as they announced Staal trade what the outcome was going to be.    Its just ridiculous that you finally have two great young centers and you're not using them to their fullest.

[campabee82]

17 minutes ago, HabsAlways said:

Nick has 5g 17a , Jesper has 5g12a ... the difference is the fact that we've yet to see Nick get saddled with bottom six wingers while JK is consistently saddled with them.  If Jesper had Toffoli/Anderson constant for 5-10 games he might just have a ton more points too.   I knew as soon as they announced Staal trade what the outcome was going to be.    Its just ridiculous that you finally have two great young centers and you're not using them to their fullest.

EXACTLY THANK YOU!!!!!

[electron58]

3 hours ago, campabee82 said:

Here is the issue with this statement, for me if you play JK's line more than Danault or Staal's then you are giving more ice time to Byron and Lehkonen as well who have done nothing to prove that they deserve the added icetime.

As far as the last line goes for me, KK is a young guy trying to make a name for himself and every time he proves he should be in the top 6 with the best wingers he gets saddled with the likes of Lehkonen and Byron. KK was awesome with Toffoli and Anderson on his wings yet when that line strung together 3 great games Anderson was moved to another line and I believe Armia was his replacement. Same thing happened when Gally was on that wing. Now because Staal comes in (who BTW has numbers worse than Byron this season) KK gets saddled with Byron and Lehkonen again. Why is it that Suzuki wasn't moved to that role? Suzuki has been having an absolutely horrible month (maybe more) he has not earned those minutes or wingers. KK is the 2nd best FO center on the team only a few fractions of a percentage behind Danault and Suzuki is the worst! If I was JK I would be pissed and knowing that I was an RFA this summer I would be demanding fair treatment or promising a long long summer for MB!

I'm going to go out on a limb, and say that KK's line will be the least used,      5 on 5. KK will get his share of minutes on the PP, while Lehks & Byron will get minutes on the penalty kill.  The number of penalties on both sides will determine this lines playing time.  Also, as H_T_L mentions,  these probably aren't the set lines for the rest of the season. 

[claremont]

1 hour ago, HabsAlways said:

Nick has 5g 17a , Jesper has 5g12a ... the difference is the fact that we've yet to see Nick get saddled with bottom six wingers while JK is consistently saddled with them.  If Jesper had Toffoli/Anderson constant for 5-10 games he might just have a ton more points too.   I knew as soon as they announced Staal trade what the outcome was going to be.    Its just ridiculous that you finally have two great young centers and you're not using them to their fullest.

Not sure I see the panic criticism - we are 6 points up, 3-5 games in hand. Coach Dom should be entitled to experiment and see what combos can potentially work without fear of pi**sing his young players off, and being accused of destroying all team chemistry. With 22 games left, why do we have to show all of our cards with entrenched line combos? Eric Staal has earned his stripes in this league and deserves a chance for a restart and to be setup for success. We are doing a terrible disservice to our young centers if we think they are impatient and can’t handle these shuffles. Their time is coming and this is about building our depth for the playoffs. 
Now if Staal doesn’t contribute and he is continually played in the style of that slug Thornton on some udder team, then let’s get the knives out later 

[maas_art]

2 hours ago, H_T_L said:

I doubt very much these are set lines for the balance of the year. 

For sure.  And DD also has said he likes to change up lines based on who we play.   Look at the oilers, 2 very strong lines & then 2 so-so.  If you run

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Drouin-Staal-Toffoli
Perry-Suzuki-Anderson
Byron-Kotkaniemi-Lehkonen

Suzuki and JK should both get some very sweet matchups.  If Staal & Danault just stop their opponents from scoring, I think the other 2 lines could do very well.  I think people are too hung up with 1st 2nd and 3rd lines - we basically have four 2nd lines. Lekhs and Byron are on a LOT of team's 3rd lines

7 minutes ago, claremont said:

Not sure I see the panic criticism - we are 6 points up, 3-5 games in hand. Coach Dom should be entitled to experiment and see what combos can potentially work 

This.  I dont think tonight's lineup is any indication of what the rest of the season will be.  Its just one game. We've seen JK on the first line, we've seen Suzuki have his linemates moved around etc.   It really isnt a bad idea to have players learn to play with each other too. Just in case you hit a patch of injuries.