Patrik Laine is practicing with the first line this morning

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Patrik Laine is practicing with the first line this morning
Credit: Cook

The Canadiens' players were back at practice this morning.

Naturally, we wondered how Martin St-Louis was going to deal with the fact that 15 guys are able to practice forward. Only Alex Newhook, who skated this morning, was not at regular practice.

And now we have some answers.

What you need to know is that only Oliver Kapanen's line didn't have an extra. Instead of forming a fifth line, Martin St-Louis rolled his trios with four guys.

Patrik Laine practiced with Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Alexandre Texier.

Logically, we can assume that the Finn was an extra, even if all four guys were rotating. The Habs still haven't activated Laine from the injured list.

Laine also took reps at center. It just goes to show that he looked like an extra.

It's safe to assume that Samuel Blais is still the 14th forward, considering he was on another established line, Phillip Danault's. Will Blais get his chance in the short term, as he brings a lot of energy? Who knows.

Joe Veleno, Kirby Dach, Zachary Bolduc, and Jake Evans were on the fourth line. If the Canadiens play Dach tomorrow (we'll see in due course), Veleno is likely to skip his turn once again.

Note that it was an intense practice. Martin St-Louis had a short fuse and didn't hesitate to stop the game when things weren't to his liking.

The recent setbacks aren't going down well, obviously.

In particular, the Canadiens worked on their zone entries and exits. The guys were all there, practicing in the right way.

Will it show tomorrow against Vegas?


overtime

– Interesting… What does this mean for Dach?

– Indeed.

– Read more.

– Please note.

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