There’s more space on the ice in the Montreal Canadiens’ series against the Buffalo Sabres than there was against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It showed on Wednesday night. Ivan Demidov was more visible and created interesting plays at even strength, but there was no one to complete the plays.
While Jake Evans is a good player, he is not, and should not be used as a second-line center. Of course, the fact that he won nine of his 13 faceoffs for a 69.2% success rate allowed the line to get puck possession, but he doesn’t have the finishing touch needed to play with the Russian rookie.
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The top six might have failed to produce last night, but both lines showed that they are more suited to that brand of hockey than to the one played against Tampa. I don’t believe taking Juraj Slafkovsky away from the top line would be the way to go, not yet, anyway. The Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Slafkovsky line generated nine shots on net.
For now, it could be a good move to bring Oliver Kapanen back in the lineup and have him play alongside Demidov and Alex Newhook. Granted, the Finn didn’t do much in his five games against Tampa, but it could be interesting to see what he can do against Buffalo in a speedier kind of game. Whichever way you look at it, the rookie had 22 goals in the regular season, two of which were scored against the Sabres.
Of course, bringing Kapanen back in the lineup would mean scratching someone to make room, but at this stage, with what Demidov is showing, it’s time to give him the linemates he was comfortable with and piled up the points with in the regular season.
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While Joe Veleno had a good first game in these playoffs with five hits, I believe it’s important to get the second line going in a series that promises to be all about the offense.
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