What Habs Need To Do To Stay Alive

It’s no secret the gas tank is low, if not empty, for the Habs right now after having played two hard-fought 7-game series, but if they really dig deep and give it everything they have in Game 5, winning is still very possible. For starters, Hurricanes netminder Frederik Andersen has proven to be very shaky, and Habs players can easily beat him off the juicy rebounds that he leaves on almost every single shot he faces. That’s also how Habs forward Josh Anderson scored in Game 2 to help the Canadiens force overtime, but rather than use that part of their game, they opted to continue trying to make fancy plays and not have anyone around the net.This resulted in making Andersen’s nights much easier, as while he faced more shots in Game 4 than Game 2 and 3, the shots he faced were much easier for him to stop even though he would still leave big rebounds in front of his net.

The biggest problem is that the Habs’ skilled players will need to get out of their comfort zone and have someone around the net to take advantage of inevitable rebounds on the shots that come through. Juraj Slafkovsky is pretty much the only one in the top 6 that heads to the front of the net, but he’s been inconsistent due to fatigue or possible injuries. He will need to push through the obvious fatigue and play a grittier game to help his team score. We should expect him to play with the uber-talented rookie Ivan Demidov and Jake Evans tonight and, as a result, will need to be the gritty guy on his line looking to get ahold of rebounds in front. The Habs don’t need everyone to be a net-front presence, but they need a designated guy on each line.

Based on the expected lines, Captain Nick Suzuki may need to be that guy on his line, as Cole Caufield doesn’t have the size, and if a shot is available, he’s likely the one to take it, while Alex Newhook will be the one who will need to bring the puck up ice. Although the Habs could opt to swap Zack Bolduc up to the top line, which could be an even better net front presence for the trio with Suzuki and Caufield. Either way, they will need someone to play a similar net front role as Anderson, where he has shown to have success in the past.

Another aspect that the Habs need to do more of is have the F1 forechecker finish their checks off on the Hurricanes defence to weaken them throughout the game. This is something that the Hurricanes have done well on the Habs’ top defenders, like Lane Hutson, which has significantly impacted the game. It’s very likely that Hutson is banged up as a result. If the Habs can start doing that more on guys like Jaccob Slavin and Shayne Gostisbehere to slow their games down a bit. Pounding the defence was how the Florida Panthers beat the Hurricanes in the past.

In fact, watching film on how the Panthers won last year might have been a solid plan for tonight’s game, as it could show both ways to slow the Hurricanes down and also ways to get through the smothering defence. Tonight’s game should definitely be a game where the Habs bring more energy than they have over the past few games, but they will need to make sure to have a different game plan, as trying to make the nice plays on offence will not work.

What do you think the Habs game plan for tonight should include?