Photo credit: Screenshot
After a crushing 6-1 loss at the Bell Centre, Martin St-Louis shuffled his cards on Wednesday. The Canadiens’ lines were completely redesigned in Brossard.
Zachary Bolduc reunited with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the first unit, a striking promotion for the Quebec forward who had recently been playing lower in the lineup. The famous Suzuki-Caufield duo therefore gets a new partner after several weeks of stability. Suzuki, 26, still leads the team with 33 points in 29 games this season. Caufield, 24, is close behind with 31 points in 29 games.
Behind them, Juraj Slafkovsky is back on the left side of Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov. Kapanen just scored the only Canadiens goal in the blowout against the Lightning and has 15 points in 29 games, while Slafkovsky, 21, has 16 points in 29 games.
Martin St-Louis shakes up the offense
“Canadiens forward lines at practice:
Caufield-Suzuki-Bolduc
Slafkovsky-Kapanen-Demidov
Anderson-Beck-Texier
Davidson-Veleno-Gallagher
(Evans is not on the ice, per RDS he is visiting a doctor in Philadelphia for a foot injury)” – Arpon Basu
The biggest change of the day, however, comes at center on the third unit. Recalled from the Rocket, Owen Beck, 21, lands between Josh Anderson and Alexandre Texier.Last year in Laval, Beck collected 44 points in 64 games, and he has already added two points in three games this season. While Jake Evans normally occupies that spot, the 29-year-old center had to step away for personal reasons.
The organization expects him to rejoin the group in New York ahead of Saturday’s matchup against the Rangers, after just signing a four-year, $11.4 million extension worth $2.85 million per season. Texier, 26, joins this trio on a strong personal stretch. On Saturday in Toronto, his shootout goal gave the Canadiens a 2-1 victory and ended a long drought at Scotiabank Arena-all while playing under a one-year, $1 million contract.
Only the fourth line remained unchanged: Jared Davidson, Joe Veleno, and Brendan Gallagher stayed together. Davidson continues to impress after posting 11 points in 13 games with the Rocket this season, while Gallagher keeps climbing into the top 20 goal scorers in Canadiens history.
On the blue line, St-Louis opted for continuity. Mike Matheson is still skating with Noah Dobson, Jayden Struble remains paired with Lane Hutson, and Arber Xhekaj forms a duo with Alexandre Carrier, while Adam Engstrom serves as the seventh defenseman after his call-up from Laval this week.
All of them now head into a tough stretch of four games in six days, including a visit to Pittsburgh tonight and Madison Square Garden on Saturday. After two straight losses and just two wins in their last six games, these new lines will be examined closely.
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Martin St-Louis cracks the whip and demotes a forward in Canadiens’ line shakeup
Do you like the new lines with Zachary Bolduc and Juraj Slafkovsky?
