The Montreal Canadiens didn't necessarily have to beat the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, but they probably should have. Instead, the Habs fell 2-1 in overtime on a rather fancy goal from Anthony Mantha.
The loss continued a recent trend in which Montreal's top guns have lacked their usual offensive spark. Over the past nine games, the Canadiens' first line has produced just two goals, both coming from Max Pacioretty in a 4-1 win over Edmonton on March 12.
Those struggles led head coach Claude Julien to split up his usual top-line trio of Alexander Radulov, Alex Galchenyuk, and Pacioretty late in the game against Detroit.
Julien then shuffled his lines at practice Wednesday, moving Galchenyuk to the wing beside Andrew Shaw and Arturri Lehkonen, while Phillip Danault was reunited with Pacioretty and Radulov as the first-unit center.
Ostensibly, putting the more skilled player in Galchenyuk between Montreal's top two wingers makes sense for a No. 1 line, but Radulov and Pacioretty have been much more productive while flanking Danault this season.
| Combination | Time on ice (minutes) | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radulov-Galchenyuk-Pacioretty | 135 | 0-1-3 | 3-2-2 | 3-3-5 |
| Radulov-Danault-Pacioretty | 337 | 3-3-8 | 6-5-5 | 9-8-13 |
(All stats listed at five-on-five, courtesy corsica.hockey)
It should be noted that Danault's sample size on the top line is much larger than Galchenyuk's, who missed a significant portion of Montreal's schedule with a knee injury.
Whether Julien opts to run his new variations on Thursday versus Carolina remains to be seen, but either way, the Canadiens will certainly need their top players to start producing in order to fend off the lurking Ottawa Senators for the Atlantic Division title.
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