Clues about the lineup the Canadiens will use tomorrow

Marc-Olivier Cook
Clues about the lineup the Canadiens will use tomorrow
Credit: YouTube - CH

Following last night's game, the Canadiens announced that there would be an optional practice early this afternoon.

And you know what? Optional or not, all the players who took part in yesterday's game were on the ice today.

No days off, as they say in English… Hehe. 

No reporters on site confirmed Noah Dobson's presence on the ice, however.

The defenseman traveled with the group to Florida and is with the team right now. But we also know he's still sidelined and that the Canadiens are expected to provide an update on his status in the coming days.

I'm eager to see what the organization has to say about the defenseman…

It's worth noting that today's (optional) practice still gave us some good clues about tomorrow's game.

It's not complicated, really: Martin St-Louis kept the same forward lines, and the defensive pairings were also identical to yesterday's.

And barring a major surprise, we should expect this lineup to be used for Game 2 of the series.

It doesn't surprise me in the sense that you don't change a winning formula.

Martin St-Louis decided to go with these players last night, and in the end, it worked. The team won in overtime and was able to take a 1-0 lead in the series by winning a road game.

However…

There were players last night who seemed like they didn't want to be there. Oliver Kapanen (who went from second-line center to just eight minutes of ice time last night), Kirby Dach, and Zachary Bolduc didn't have a great game, and meanwhile, Brendan Gallagher is waiting for a chance to prove himself…

I really feel like we're going to see Gally play in the series if the three other players mentioned above continue to struggle. Gallagher's fire and energy could certainly help, especially in an emotional series like this one against the Lightning…

To be continued, then. But for tomorrow, we're likely to see the same lineup as yesterday… and we'll see if luck smiles on Martin St-Louis.


In a nutshell

– The big joker.

– Me too.

– He's incredible.

– Oh, really?

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