Canadiens forward Patrik Laine is coming off his first hat trick with the Canadiens in a 6-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. This is the 11th time Laine has scored three or more goals in a game. All three came on the powerplay which has become a trend for Laine as all six of his tallies this season are on the man advantage. The Canadiens powerplay which has typically struggled in years past, now sits in the top half of the league at 14th. Patrik Laine has become a big reason for the unit’s success in only seven games. Let’s look at how Patrik Laine is changing the Canadiens powerplay for the better.
Canadiens Patrik Laine: Powerplay specialist
Canadiens Laine Takes Presure Off Of Caufield
Over the past couple of seasons, Cole Caufield has been the primary option on the Canadiens powerplay. Oftentimes the only legitimate shooting threat. This caused the Canadiens to overplay the pass to Caufield which teams quickly adapted to. Now with Patrik Laine on the team, Caufield isn’t the only shooting threat. Both players are right-handed and as a result, Laine has taken over Caufield’s position at the right circle. The same one-timer location which has long been a trademark of Alex Ovechkin‘s game. While Caufield has an amazing shot, his one-timer release doesn’t nearly have the same power that Laine’s does.
Laine’s presence has moved Caufield around on the powerplay. He now plays in the bumper spot as well as on the goalline on his strong side. Caufield not being the focus of other teams’ penalty killers will allow him to do what he does best and find himself sneaking into scoring positions.
Opens Up Other Options
Having a player with Laine’s shot threat is a valuable asset for the Canadiens as it opens up many other options on the powerplay. Laine is the main focus of other teams penalty-killers. With this in mind, Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki, Lane Hutson, and Caufield now have a lot more time and space to operate. The elusiveness of Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki often draws multiple defenders to them as well. As mentioned, Cole Caufield now can sneak into scoring positions with the defender’s focus not being solely on him.
The forgotten man on the powerplay though is Slafkovsky who has a solid one-timer of his own. Slafkovsky is also a very underrated playmaker. Opposing teams are going to have their hands full trying to figure out who to cover on this top unit.
Adds Depth to Second Unit
Before Laine’s arrival, the Canadiens second powerplay unit was a non-factor. The unit featured the leftovers from the top unit with guys like Alex Newhook, Christian Dvorak, Josh Anderson, and Brendan Gallagher. With no disrespect to these players, outside of Newhook, they aren’t the ideal cast members for a powerplay.
Now with Laine, Kirby Dach has been moved down. While Dach has struggled this year, he gives the unit a legitimate playmaker and puck carrier that it didn’t have beforehand. Lane Hutson has also now been promoted to the top unit meaning Mike Matheson has also been demoted. Emil Heineman has come into his own and now gives them a shooting threat. on his strong side. The Canadiens now can ice two respectable powerplay units. Let’s not forget that Russian prospect Ivan Demidov will be joining this group next year as well. Joshua Roy and Logan Mailloux are also options to see powerplay time in the near future. Head coach Martin St. Louis must be licking his chops when thinking of the powerplay weapons he will soon have at his disposal.
It’s amazing the impact that one player can have on a team’s powerplay. Laine’s presence has had a trickle-down effect throughout the lineup and all the players featured on the Canadiens man advantage units will be beneficiaries of it.
Main Photo: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
The post How One Forward is Changing the Canadiens powerplay appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.