IF IT’S BROKE, DON’T FIX IT
Habs’ Desharnais offering little offence, but still sucking up prime ice time
I’m starting to wonder if Michel Therrien’s last name is really Desharnais? Or maybe David Desharnais’s last name is really Therrien?
That might be the only way to explain how Desharnais was still on the first line and the No. 1 power-play unit during the Montreal Canadiens’ practice Thursday as they prepared to face the Sabres Friday in Buffalo.
The situation reminds me of the coach’s kid in peewee hockey who can do no wrong. He’ll always be on the No. 1 line and the first power-play unit while the other players and their parents stew.
Desharnais has zero points in his last seven games and has only two goals and five assists in his last 33. For the season, Desharnais has nine goals and 15 assists in 55 games and is minus-6.
The 5-foot-7, 174-pounder has only four power-play points (including three goals) this season while spending a total of 129:36 on the ice with the man advantage.
That works out to the equivalent of playing two full games and another half-period with the man advantage — and picking up only four points.
Desharnais has gone 33 straight games without a power-play point despite averaging 2:21 of ice time per game with the man advantage. And you wonder why, heading into Thursday’s games, the Canadiens were tied for 20th in the NHL on the power play with a 17.8-per-cent success rate?
Assistant coach J.J. Daigneault and coaching consultant Craig Ramsay were on the ice with the two powerplay units for 20 minutes before the start of Thursday’s practice and there was Desharnais on the first unit with Max Pacioretty and Sven Andrighetto up front and Andrei Markov and P.K. Subban on the blue-line. Desharnais, Pacioretty and Andrighetto were also a line during practice.
Pacioretty leads the Canadiens in goals with 20 and has 38 points, but has also been in a slump with only one goal and one assist in his last nine games. But it seems like the captain wants to play with Desharnais, so he does.
“Definitely we’re waiting,” Therrien said about Desharnais’s production. “I’m convinced that David would be the first to say that he wants to produce more.”
Desharnais wasn’t available to the media after practice.
Therrien did take Dale Weise off the No. 1 line for practice Thursday and replaced him with Andrighetto. Weise, who has only one goal and two assists in his last 13 games, was demoted to the fourth line with Torrey Mitchell and Paul Byron.
“He’s got to be more hungry,” Therrien said of Weise.
“He’s the type of player that when he’s hungry, he’s fast on the forecheck, he’s winning battles, he’s taking good decisions with the puck. Last game, I didn’t quite like his focus, so that’s why we made the change.”
Desharnais, Pacioretty and Weise were held off the scoresheet during Tuesday’s 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, which extended the Canadiens’ winning streak to three games. It was the line of Tomas Plekanec, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher that carried the load, combining for three goals and six points.
That trio made up the second power-play unit during Thursday’s practice with Mark Barberio and Tom Gilbert at the points.
Gallagher was asked if they were working on anything different during the power-play drills.
“Nothing different,” Gallagher said. “Just keeping it fresh. Going through where everyone’s going to be and working on what we think is going to be available there tomorrow night.”
We know where Desharnais is going to be. Centre on the first line and the No. 1 power-play unit.