Competition fierce for Habs’ fourth line

Playing on the fourth line is not an easy job in the NHL, especially for someone with offensive talent who is accustomed to getting lots of ice time.

That was the case with Matthew Peca after he joined the Canadiens last season. The previous year, Peca posted 13-33-46 totals in 63 games with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch and 1-1-2 totals in 10 games with the Tampa

Bay Lightning. Peca impressed Marc Bergevin enough that the Canadiens’ GM signed the fivefoot-nine, 182-pound forward to a two-year, one-way contract as a free agent worth US$2.6 million.

After going pointless and minus-2 in his first three games with the Canadiens, Peca was made a healthy scratch for the first time — something that became a common occurrence as the season went on. The 26-yearold ended up playing only 39 games, posting 3-7-10 totals, and was a healthy scratch for 18 of the last 19 games. His minus-14 was the worst plus/minus rating on the team.

“This year coming in, I just want to kind of gain the coach’s respect back and gain the staff ’s trust back to be able to put me out against guys and be hard to play against in the D zone and stuff like that, and create energy,” Peca said Monday. “Puck possession is huge. We didn’t do a good enough job of puck possession as a fourth line last year. So those are all little things that I worked on this summer.

“The relentless part,” Peca added. “Just that part of your role you need to be a line that guys don’t want to play against. You want to be in everyone’s face and that’s just the style of game we play also, right? With the speed we have, the guys that are fighting for those last three spots there’s no reason why they can’t be effective.”

The battle for a spot on the Canadiens’ fourth line will be fierce during the last week of training camp with three pre-season games on the schedule, starting with Monday night’s contest against Toronto. Peca was in the lineup against the Leafs, skating at left wing on a line with centre Jake Evans and right-winger Riley Barber.

Last season, Peca averaged only 10:31 of ice time per game. The only Canadiens who averaged fewer minutes were Dale Weise (10:05) and Nicolas Deslauriers (10:02).

“It’s less touches, it’s less looks,” Peca said about his ice time. “It’s harder to get into the game. And the guys that have been around and been doing that role are the best at it and the best at being 100 per cent for those insignificant amount of minutes, and they do such a good job. So I just kind of took that to heart and watched a lot of tape on guys that do it right and you just want to come back and be a good teammate, be a hard player to play against.

“You see skilled guys in these type of roles all the time and they contribute,” Peca added. “But they also do the little things right. Once you find that happy medium, that’s where good stuff happens.”

Peca focused on fourth-line players while watching the Stanley Cup playoffs on TV last season and noted how they made a difference on the best teams, allowing them to roll four lines, which becomes so important as the season progresses.

Canadiens head coach Claude Julien likes to roll four lines, but had a hard time finding a consistent fourth line last season that he could trust. As a result, the fourth line became a revolving door. Nate Thompson and Jordan Weal, both acquired at the NHL trade deadline, helped solidify things late in the season and the acquisition of Weise added some depth. Bergevin signed free-agent Nick Cousins during the summer to add more depth — and more competition — on the fourth line.

“I wish I would have adjusted better,” Peca said about playing on the fourth line last season. “I wasn’t typically used to playing a fourth-line role . ... It takes time to learn that kind of game.

“You don’t play like the coach wants you to play early in the year and that kind of stuff happens,” Peca added about becoming a healthy scratch. “So you kind of just have to go back to the drawing board, work hard, keep your head down and don’t take anything for granted.”

As for the competition heading into the final week of training camp, Peca said: “It brings out the best in guys. You watch guys having good games, young guys coming up, having great games, and it just forces you to be ready.” scowan@postmedia.com