BROSSARD, Que. – Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said Wednesday he will be looking to build chemistry right away in training camp, and on the opening day of on-ice work Thursday, we saw he wasn’t kidding.
We basically saw what should be the opening night lineup playing together, at least at forward. There weren’t really any surprises. “Marty might want to tinker with things here and there, but for me, I’d like to keep the same lines through the preseason,” Nick Suzuki said.
“We have only a few opportunities to get it right before the actual games start, so the more we can play together, it would be better off for us.” Alex Newhook has to be feeling pretty short on that second line. Kirby Dach (6 feet 4 inches, 217 pounds) and Patrik Laine (6-5, 215 pounds) tower over Newhook at 5-11, but he seems like a good fit to complement two players looking to come back from major injuries.
Advertisement Laine and Dach represent the biggest differences to the Canadiens’ attack this season, not only because of what they could bring themselves but also because they push guys like Josh Anderson and Joshua Roy down to third-line roles. And when you look at the forward lines, yes, the top six has more pop, but if you had to pick an area where the Canadiens will have a true advantage over opponents — especially in their own division — it is on the third and fourth lines. Not too many teams have nearly $19 million worth of cap in their bottom six, but it looks li.