BROSSARD, Que.— The Montreal Canadiens (4-0-1) are far from perfect, but they remain the only team in the NHL to have not lost a game in regulation thus far.
The Canadiens, who have wins over Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Arizona and Boston, are holding down the top spot in the Eastern Conference and have the NHL’s best goals for average (4.00) and goals against average (1.60)
On Monday morning, coach Michel Therrien said there is one area in particular where he’d like to see his team improve.
“Our power play is supposed to create momentum,” Therrien said in French. “You look at the way we started against Boston Saturday, and we were aggressive and we had good scoring chances. But we weren’t as strong as the game went on.”
Montreal’s power play struggles in recent years have been well-documented. The team has finished below 17 per cent efficiency in each of the last three seasons and they’ve started this one by converting on just three of their first 21 opportunities.
That’s why Therrien and associate coach Kirk Muller are opting for a different look for Monday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Forward Alexander Radulov will be on the point of the first unit, which also includes defenceman Shea Weber and the team’s top line of Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher.
“We want to try different things on the power play and this is one of them,” said Therrien. “We have that in our back pocket because we still like [defenceman Andrei] Markov on the point and Weber and [defenceman Jeff] Petry is doing a good job, too.”
Radulov said after Montreal’s morning skate that he’s vaguely familiar with the position, having played it at times with CSKA Moscow of the KHL.
Galchenyuk, who had nine power-play goals for the Canadiens last season, believes moving Radulov to the point could pay immediate dividends.
“He’s patient with the puck and he’s a really good play-maker,” said Galchenyuk. “I like it. I hope it works.”
Gallagher also sees the benefit of having Radulov at the point.
“We’ve seen it early on—he’s such a talented player,” he said. “You just want to get the puck on his stick as much as you can. To have him back there you know he’s got the ability to make plays, so we’re excited for it.”
Only 10 teams have power plays operating above 20 per cent this season. When asked what the main reason is for such effective penalty killing league-wide, Gallagher said teams are breaking down video more than ever before.
“We sit in penalty-kill meetings every day and you get to watch everything a power play’s done; what they’re looking for, who their weapons are,” said Gallagher. “Especially breakouts and entries—you can really get a gameplan to stuff them there.”
The Canadiens’ penalty kill, which has yet to allow a goal at the Bell Centre, will have its hands full with Philadelphia’s power play, which is currently operating at 19 per cent efficiency.
Flyers captain Claude Giroux is leading the charge with four power-play points so far. Forwards Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds aren’t far behind with three points apiece.
