Habs fine-tune
Special-teams units ahead of playoff opener vs. Bolts in Tampa.
“We have a chance to play a real simple, playoff-style road game. We don’t have to impress anybody.”
JOSH GORGES, CANADIENS DEFENCEMAN
How important are special teams? In Michel Therrien’s book, they are very important, which is why the Canadiens spent most of their practice time Monday in Brossard working on the power play and the penalty kill.
The power play is the major concern as the Canadiens prepare to open the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday in Tampa (7 p.m., CBC, RDS, TSN-690 Radio).
The Canadiens failed to score a power-play goal in their final eight regularseason games, going 0-for-23. Coach Therrien tried to be positive, saying he saw some good things on Saturday night when the Habs defeated the New York Rangers 1-0 in overtime, but the bottom line is that the Canadiens failed to score.
“I’m not too worried about it,” Lars Eller said. “Most of the game is played 5-on-5 and we’ve been getting more goals at even strength lately. We’ve had a good power play and we’re going to score on the power play and the floodgates are going to open.”
Eller is right about the Canadiens’ production at even strength. During the eight-game power-play drought, Montreal scored 24 goals at even strength and that helped the team finish the season on an 11-3-1 run.
One of the blemishes on that record was a 3-1 loss in Tampa on April 1 and special teams were the difference in that game. The Canadiens gave Tampa nine power-play chances and the Lightning scored on two of them. Montreal went 0-for-4.
That game was the difference in the standings as Tampa earned home ice in the best-of-seven series with 101 points, one more than Montreal.
The Habs had another chance to grab home ice last Thursday, but they were shut out 2-0 by the lowly Islanders. However, defenceman Josh Gorges said starting on the road offered an opportunity.
“We have a chance to play a real simple, playoff-style road game,” Gorges said. “We don’t have to impress anybody or go out there and make cute plays and impress a crowd that’s going to be amped up and ready to go. We just have to go out and get a win, whatever that takes. One of the good things about starting on the road is we can grind it out and do whatever we can to win.”
One disadvantage of playing on the road lies in the fact that the home team gets to make the final line change.
Eller said he would welcome the challenge of facing Tampa sniper Steven Stamkos, but noted that decision was out of the Canadiens’ hands for the first two games.
Therrien also downplayed the significance of matching lines.
“Our players know their responsibilities out there and they know where to be on the ice,” he said. “We’ll try to get the right players out at the right time, but we don’t want to spoil our tempo to get matchups. I think the Lightning have a similar mentality when it comes to the tempo of the game.”
The tempo of the game has been anything but upbeat in the teams’ four regular-season games. They split a pair of 2-1 shootouts, while Tampa Bay won the other two games 2-1 and 3-1, respectively.
On paper, it shapes up as a goaltenders’ duel and the only question is which goaltender will be between the pipes for Tampa. Ben Bishop, who had a 0.94 goals-against average and a .962 save percentage against Montreal, missed the final three games of the regular season with an elbow injury. Anders Lindback stepped in and led Tampa to three consecutive wins and was named the NHL first star of the week.
Carey Price has been strong against Tampa, with a 1.42 GAA and a .956 save percentage.
“I expect Carey to be the same leader for us that he’s been all season long,” Therrien said. “He’s matured and he’s playing with a lot of confidence.” Notes: Brandon Prust joined the practice Monday. Therrien said the winger is day-to-day, but he didn’t know whether he would be ready for the series opener. ...
The Canadiens signed forward Jacob de la Rose to a three-year entry-level contract. A second-round draft pick in 2013, he scored three goals and added three assists to help Sweden win a silver medal at the World Junior Championship.