Special Teams Key To Canadiens' Survival
On Tuesday, after the primary practice, five Montreal Canadiens players moved over to the second ice of the CN Sports Complex on their initiative. The members of the Habs' first power play unit felt some extra repetitions couldn't hurt, so Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov, and Lane Hutson spent some time polishing their craft with Adam Nicholas.
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In Sunday night's 5-2 defeat, both Canadiens' goals came on the power play, and if the Habs want to have any hope of pushing this series to a game six, they'll need that man-advantage to remain just as efficient. So far in this series, Montreal has scored five goals in 13 power-play opportunities for a 38.5% success rate (they finished the season at 20.1%), but on the road, it's down to 25%.
What was different at home? The presence of Demidov on the first unit. In the first two games in Washington, Patrik Laine played and skated on the first power-play unit. As discussed, he struggled to shoot on net, significantly diminishing his efficiency.
Even if the Finnish sniper was ready to return to the lineup tonight, don't expect him to be reinserted on the first power play. Having Caufield back in his preferred spot has been a game-changer, just like inserting Demidov. The young Russian has showcased great creativity and the ability to hold the puck, when necessary, even under pressure.
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It's also worth noting just how efficient the penalty kill has been. The Washington Capitals have only been able to score a single goal on the man-advantage, and they did it at home, through Alexander Ovechkin.
Since then, the Canadiens have changed how they defend against the Capitals' captain on the power play, using the fact that he hardly moves against them. Putting a player right on him stops him from getting the puck and teeing up his lethal shot. It's worth sacrificing a player to take that out of the equation and defend three-on-four on the rest of the ice.
It has worked well over the last two games, but Jakub Dobes has had to be at the top of his game. He stole a couple of goals on cross-crease passes that led to one-timers. However, Alexandre Carrier's absence could be a factor if he can't play following Tom Wilson's hit in game four.
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