Canadiens not worried about top line entering Game 4

MONTREAL -- It's not supposed to work this way.

During the regular season, members of the Montreal Canadiens' current top line combined for 161 even-strength points (65 goals, 97 assists). Cole Caufield led the way with 59 (40 goals, 19 assists) followed by Nick Suzuki with 57 (17 goals, 40 assists) and Juraj Slafkovsky with 45 (15 goals, 30 assists).

The obvious conclusion here: As those three players go, so go the Canadiens when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Except that's not the case here.

Through the first three games of the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round, Montreal's top three have combined for exactly zero points in 5-on-5 play. That would suggest the Canadiens are in deep trouble.

But they're not.

Instead, thanks to some timely depth scoring, they actually lead the series 2-1 heading into Game 4 at Bell Centre on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNP, ESPN, The Spot).

In the process, there are no concerns about the line's lack of production. At least not from the players involved anyway.

"I think it's crazy," Slafkovsky said Saturday, referring to all the outside angst concerning his line's failure to have a single point in non-power play situations. "I mean, I don't really think it matters who scores the goals. I feel that all that matters is that we win the games.

"I'm happy for anyone on our team who scores. And I'm just happy to get the win, happy to be up in the series, and just want to keep going."

Slafkovsky has three points in the series, courtesy of the power play hat trick he had in Montreal's 4-3 overtime victory in Game 1. Caufield and Suzuki also have three points each, all assists, all coming with the man-advantage as well.

For his part, Suzuki was encouraged by the line's play in Montreal's 3-2 overtime win in Game 3 on Friday. 

"I thought we were pretty good, honestly," the Canadiens captain said, adding, "I think as the game went on, we were overthinking stuff.

"You know, there's a lot of talk and a lot of pressure we put on ourselves to go out there and perform and do the best we can. But we had good looks all night. And Cole almost ended it in overtime.

"They're game planning over there pretty hard on our line so we just have to play through it."

Suzuki was referring to the cat-and-mouse game of Xs and Os being played between coaches Jon Cooper of the Lightning and Martin St. Louis of the Canadiens.

Cooper has primarily employed Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel against the Suzuki line as much as possible. While the third member of that Lightning line has fluctuated between Jake Guentzel and Nikita Kucherov, Cooper has done everything possible to get Cirelli and Hagel on the ice against Montreal's top line, including making changes directly after face-offs to get the desired matchup.

So far, so good.

"We've done this for years," Cooper said of this specific tactic. "It's not something that's new to us. It's just the magnitude, the stakes, in the playoffs. Everything's a little bit higher.

"It's a game plan we put in. I wouldn't sit here and say everything has worked out for us. But that sure has. They know their assignment and they've done an admirable job with it. 

"Trust me, when those guys come off the ice, at times they're happy because they're gassed."

Nevertheless, no matter how many times he's got to pull them off and on the ice like yo-yos on skates in order to get the matchup he wants against the Suzuki line, Cooper is impressed at the job Cirelli and Hagel have done.

"Like I've said, I've really kind of liked a lot of things that have gone on in the series, especially with Cirelli and Hagel," Cooper said. "I think they've been our best players in the series. It's so hard to complain about what they're doing because they've been great, regardless if they're playing in the flow or being pulled off."

St. Louis, on the other hand, has not tried to avoid that matchup. He trusts that his top line will fight through the adversity and start scoring, no matter who they go up against.

Part of that reasoning is that the Canadiens have received some key secondary scoring in the interim. 

For example, Josh Anderson, a bottom-six forward, scored in each of the first two games. In Game 3, the line of Kirby Dach (one goal, one assist), Alexandre Texier (one goal, one assist) and Zachary Bolduc (two assists) each had two points. 

"Look, they're elite players and they have a hard matchup," St. Louis said of the Suzuki line. "But I'm OK with who they're on the ice against.

"Do I try to help them during the game? Yes, I do. But I'm confident that they're going to be responsible out there and still generate. I feel they want to generate more. But you have three elite players that are trying to answer the critics without hurting the team. 

"So, it's a fine line."

One St. Louis took time to elaborate about.

"If they explode during 5-on-5 and we lose 5-4, what are we going to talk about?" he said. "It's great when the first line is going, but if we lose the game? Like I said, it's a fine line.

"Those guys are always going to be a big part of our success, whether they're on the score sheet offensively or not, because they rack up a lot of minutes against some really good players."

Suzuki wouldn't want to have it any other way.

"Yeah, I don't think we need to be shying away from anything," he said. "I just think there are things we can do better. So I think (St. Louis) trusts us to go up against whoever they want against us.

"I don't think it matters."

To this point, it primarily hasn't. How long it can remain that way, well, that remains to be seen.