That being said, Guy Carbonneau’s experimentation should be limited to the above mentioned reason only and shouldn’t be a longer term situation.
All three players have their strengths, but being offensively gifted isn’t necessarily one of them. The recent success of the PP in the last five games (7 of 28 or 25%) has come mostly from players like Lang, the Kostitsyns, Kovalev and Markov for the most part. During that span, the Lapierre trio haven’t recorded a single point.
With Christopher Higgins, Saku Koivu and eventually Alex Tanguay returning from injuries, the Lapierre experiment will cease and the powerplay world as we know it will return to its set ways!
To Hit or Not Hit!
Understandably, the NHL All-Star game is a wide open affair without barely a hint of contact.
Without Jeremy Roenick’s participation, there needs to be someone who will step up and make a symbolic hip check to get the juices flowing, that’s where Mike Komisarek comes into play.
Komy will have his hands full with so many skilled players and a wide open style of game to deal with. There have been many All-Star moments when the best of NHL defensemen have looked downright terrible and Komisarek will have those moments, it’s only normal……..just remember to make that hit and everybody will forget about the other mishap(s)!!
Odd Man Out
With the Canadiens getting healthier by the day, Guy Carbonneau has some decisions to make, some will be easier than others.
When Saku Koivu and Christopher Higgins return to the line-up, Carbo will have the easy decision to send Greg Stewart and Kyle Chipchura back to Hamilton, but it gets a little harder when Alex Tanguay and Georges Laraque are healthy.
Tanguay’s return is a no brainer, he’s a solid contributor but where do you place Big Georges in the line-up? Upon the return of Koivu, Higgins and Tanguay, the lines will pretty well be set with the following potential line combinations:
Kovalev – Plekanec – Pacioretty/D’Agostini
Tanguay – Koivu – Higgins
Latendresse – Lapierre – Kostopoulos
Kostitsyn – Lang – Kostitsyn
The last two lines can’t/shouldn’t be disturbed due to their strong play the last few games. The Plekanec line can be altered as could the Koivu line if Carbo wanted to tinker (and we all know how he likes to do that!!), so where does the disappointing Laraque get inserted into the equation.
Simply put, he’s not part of the equation, at least not until someone from the fourth line slumps or gets injured so,……………enjoy your seat in the press box with Steve Begin, BG, as it could be a while before you see the ice.