ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA | LAVAL, QC. — Phase 3 of the NHL’s Return to Play protocol has concluded as teams have traveled to their hub city. The Canadiens play their lone exhibition game on Tuesday against the Maple Leafs, and begin their best-of-five series against the Penguins on Saturday.
The second week of camp in Brossard focused on special units and scrimmages. “We had two good weeks of training, again today, the rhythm, the pace, the players engagement was good. I think we’re going to Toronto with a good approach, and a good attitude,” said Claude Julien on Saturday when asked to evaluate the camp.
The coach had all his players together as of Wednesday when Xavier Ouellet and Brett Kulak hit the ice for the first time during Phase 3. Ouellet was quarantined after testing positive for the coronavirus.
“It was a weird situation. I got in town and started getting tested for COVID and tested negative, and then all of a sudden got a positive test,” explained Ouellet on Thursday. Ouellet added that he tested negative daily since the positive test and was asymptomatic which can be typical with COVID-19. His diagnosis was confirmed with a positive antibody test.
Philip Danault confirmed that his group with Ryan Poehling, Victor Mete, Cale Fleury, and Cayden Primeau were separated from their teammates because they were in contact with Ouellet during Phase 2.
Kulak indicated that he had COVID-19 symptoms after arriving to Montreal on July 2nd. The first test returned negative, however the one taken the following day returned positive.
The NHL’s policy is that all communications about injuries and anything related to COVID-19 are handled by the league. Since last week, several players have stated that they tested positive. It makes me wonder the purpose of the policy if the players will proactively be confirming their test results.
Domi Joins Camp
Max Domi joined his teammates last Monday at Complexe Sportif Bell. I wasn’t expecting Domi to participate in Phases 3 and 4, but he had several discussions with experts and his family to make his decision.
“I had a lot of extensive conversations with doctors — both on my end and on the team’s end, and with the League and the NHLPA as well,” said Domi on Tuesday. “The Canadiens were outstanding, and very open-minded to making this work. Obviously, it was a unique situation for everyone, and making me feel as comfortable as possible was great.”
Domi’s teammates were enthusiastic to see him join the club. “It was really good to see him. He brings a lot of enthusiasm to our locker room and on the ice. He’s a vocal guy and he’s got a unique laugh that everybody loves to hear,” said Carey Price on Monday.
Is it a Fourth Line?
Jordan Weal acted a placeholder on the top line with Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher while Danault was skating in the smaller group, but the rest of the top three lines that Julien put together for the first day of camp remained intact for the duration of Phase 3.
In the final days before flying to the hub city, Domi was on a line with Dale Weise to his left and Weal to the right. “Not that it irks me is that when people label them as a fourth line. I never said they were a fourth line. At the end of the day, what I’ve tried to do is balance my lines out,” said a visibly annoyed coach when asked about that line.
“When you look at Dale Weise, he’s a guy that’s been around for a long time. He’s got a lot of experience and he’s got a lot of playoff experience. When you look at Jordan Weal, he’s a guy that we’ve put on our power play, and when you see him with the puck, he makes things happen,” spoke Julien about Domi’s linemates.
With the Canadiens being considered as the road team for the first two games versus the Penguins, Julien is putting players he trusts on every line in case he isn’t able to put on his top players to face Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Depending on the outcome of the ‘road’ games, the coach may change his approach on the composition of his trios.
Will Drouin be a Factor?
For the Canadiens to have a chance to be victorious in their qualifying round, they will need the line of Jonathan Drouin, Nick Suzuki, and Joel Armia to contribute offensively. This trio had played together for four games in February, and were held off the scoresheet.
“If we play like we practice, where we’re around the puck and we’re creating little plays [we’ll have success],” Drouin analyzed his line. “We like playing with each other – it’s just bringing more speed to the game. We’ve got to add more speed to our line and make sure we’re beating guys one-on-one when we have the chance.”
Montreal will be hoping that Drouin produces at the same pace that he was at the start of the season recording 15 points in 19 games before suffering an injury during November 15th game against the Capitals. “I have confidence that Jonathan will give us the type of hockey that he gave us at the start of the season” said the coach on Wednesday.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in all three guys. Jonathan has playoff experience with Tampa, and he played a really great series with them – so that’s an encouraging sign for us.” Drouin also had success in 2015-16 playoffs with Tampa Bay collecting 14 points in 17 games.
Series Prediction
Another key to victory for Montreal is to limit the impact that Crosby and Malkin can make on the scoresheet. “Well, we could ask them nicely to stay at the hotel for the games,” said Price jokingly on Monday. “Or we work as a group and take their time and space away.”
Montreal may not have to worry about Crosby to start the series as the Penguins forward has skated only once with his teammates in the last seven days of their camp. “Hoping that I can skate with the team Monday and kind of take it from there, but ideally, I’d be able to play in that game [Tuesday]. If not, just going to go a day at a time from there. But hoping I can get in that game,” said the Penguins captain on Saturday.
I don’t think that the Canadiens have the required players on their roster to come out with a series win against the Penguins. It will take four games for Pittsburgh to get Montreal checked out from the Royal York high-end luxury hotel in Toronto, and into the running to draft Alexis Lafreniere.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to win and lose as a team. It’s always been like that. I can sway the odds with outstanding play, but at the end of day, we’re all going to need to play over our heads to win,” assessed Price.
I anticipate that the Habs defence will be their biggest weakness. Julien will be forced to heavily rely on Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, and Jeff Petry. Mete missed action in December and February due to injuries, and the remaining defensive unit have been in and out of the lineup all year or with Laval in the American Hockey League.
