Montreal Canadiens: Cautious Optimism For New Second Line

Yup, its that time of year again. Lets make some big decisions about a few preseason games. So far, the Canadiens have played four preseason games, with a couple you would like to forget in there. The first two games were against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the next two were against the Ottawa Senators, and they all featured completely different personnel for the Habs.

The first game had the top line of Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Tyler Toffoli, and while the line had its chances, the game did not go Montreal’s way, with the final score of 4-1. The lone Montreal goal came off of Toffoli’s stick, but with just a minute or two left.

The second game had Montreal’s possible second line of Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson. It was a fantastic showing from the squad, and specifically this line, which combined for 3 goals. The Canadiens would go on to win the game 5-2.

Now, some people will point to the fact that all three of the goals were on the powerplay, and that is fair. I think that if this was not a new line, and this was not the preseason there would be a point to be made here. But, as an exercise in practice and chemistry, it still works wonders.

Anderson scored two goals, and Dvorak scored one. Dvorak also had three assists and Drouin added two. The other two goals came from a surprising source, Michael Pezzetta, a 6th round pick in 2016, who had scored just two goals in each of his past two seasons with the Laval Rocket. Other players with assists were Jan Mysak, Ben Chiarot, Chris Wideman and Joel Armia.

But lets talk about that line.

In the clip above, Drouin talks about how already there is chemistry between himself and Dvorak at least. And it is hard to not believe him if you watch Dvorak’s goal, as Drouin was able to get the puck to Dvorak right on the goal mound for a nice, easy goal. And if you look at the past goals that Dvorak has scored, that is the M.O. He doesn’t have the best shot or speed or hands, but is able to get into great positions to score on the rebound or have an easy tap-in goal.

Drouin’s lack of goal-scoring prowess has been well documented. Josh Anderson is an interesting case, as he scores a majority of his goals off the rush. He can be deceptively good at picking tight spots while barrelling down on opposing goaltenders, and has a pretty good one-timer. It should be fun seeing Drouin using that skill and creativity to spring Anderson on rushes down the ice that should lead to glorious chances.

However, outside of being on the rush, I can see this line struggling to produce goals with extended periods of time in the offensive zone. If Dvorak can be boxed out of the front of the net, and Anderson’s shot neutralized, it would take a lot of magic for Drouin to create offence even with his immense skill.

It is a story that has played out time and time again in Montreal in recent years. There have been countless times where the Canadiens have had great chances that just have not come together due to a lack of quality finish. The possession is there, the chances are there, there are shots being taken, but they rarely feel like they have the chance of going in. It is indicative of the recent Canadiens’ that they have had just Max Pacioretty as a pure scorer for a long time now. Cole Caufield might become that player, but so few Canadiens have a truly threatening shot.

And that is the problem with this line. Take away the one timer of Anderson, which isn’t the most accurate thing in the world, and this line might struggle to produce meaningful offence.