With four losses in their last five games, the Montreal Canadiens are well aware that something needs to change.
Getting back on track is no easy task, though, and their recent pileup of injuries certainly doesn’t help.
As a result, along with running more intense practices as of late, head coach Martin St. Louis appears to have shaken up the team’s lines ahead of their three-game stint down in California.
The array of new trios and duos features the debut of a new top line that includes Alex Newhook at left wing, Nick Suzuki at centre and Brendan Gallagher at right wing.
Fans were surprised to see Gallagher, who has spent the vast majority of the past three seasons in the bottom six, slotted higher than sniper Cole Caufield. But considering the 31-year-old’s productive start to the 2023-24 campaign (5G, 3A in 18 GP), it might be worth a shot.
While the formations are not set in stone, Gallagher seems excited about the prospect of more ice time.
“It’s pretty obvious what my job is. I think I have to help them [Suzuki and Newhook] out whenever I can, try to be effective on the forecheck, try to get the puck on their stick as much as possible,” Gallagher explained to reporters on Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to it. It’s a good opportunity.”
Meanwhile, St. Louis appeared confident in the player’s ability to bring something different to the Habs’ top trio.
“He’s gonna be hard on the forecheck… Gally will win battles, he’ll do the dirty work,” the coach said after practice in Anaheim. “We haven’t done that this year yet. We’ll see what it looks like.”
With three of their starting defencemen sidelined by injuries, the Canadiens latest practice lines are as follows, as per Sportsnet’s Eric Engels:
Alex Newhook – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher
Cole Caufield – Christian Dvorak – Juraj Slafkovsky
Tanner Pearson – Sean Monahan – Josh Anderson
Michael Pezzetta – Jake Evans – Jesse Ylönen
Mike Matheson – Justin Barron
Kaiden Guhle – Johnathan Kovacevic
Jayden Struble – Gustav Lindström
Kicking off their road trip, the Canadiens take on the Anaheim Ducks tonight at 10 pm ET.
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