Romanov and the Canadian, the reunion

(Elmont, New York) This may be the first time that Alexander Romanov will face the Canadian on Saturday night, but it will not be the first time that he will hit the CH players.

Jake Evans will be able to spread the word to his teammates. Romanov had joined the Canadiens during the 2020 playoffs, which took place in a protected environment in the middle of the summer in Toronto. In his very first practice with the full team, the young defender who was then 20 years old had knocked down Cale Fleury in a rather authoritarian way.

“If he can do it in practice, he can do it in a game with the Islanders!” Evans said after the Habs’ morning practice at UBS Arena. I think I’m ready and alert, but it can happen out of nowhere. »

This Canadian-Islanders duel will indeed be Romanov’s first against the team that drafted him in 2^e turn in 2018. With 14 points (one goal, 13 assists), he is already enjoying his best offensive season in the NHL. However, his role is similar to the one he had in Montreal, that is to say that he plays about twenty minutes per game, at even strength and shorthanded.

Romanov is not the only homing missile among the Islanders, however. Matt Martin, Cal Clutterbuck and Casey Cizikas, three names that we associate together as Angelo, Frédo and Roméo, still and always form the fourth trio. Martin (141 hits) is the most violent of the group, followed by Clutterbuck (117) and Cizikas (93).

“You have to know when they are on the ice. It’s a trio that brings a lot of energy and rhythm to the team. We will have to force them to play in the neutral zone or in their territory. It’s an effective forecheck line,” said David Savard, who knew them as division rivals when he played in Columbus.

Hoffman left out again

Martin St-Louis will not make any changes to his roster, two days after a spectacular win over the Predators. This means that veteran Mike Hoffman will be left out for the fourth time in the last five games. Michael Pezzetta will accompany him in the stands.

St-Louis will therefore once again call on a formation of 11 attackers and 7 defenders. This therefore means a lot of rotations in the second and third pairing, since that of veterans Savard and Joel Edmundson remained relatively intact on Thursday.

If the young defenders – except Harris, who played 21 minutes on Thursday – had to sacrifice some presence, the attackers inevitably find themselves playing more in order to complete the duo of Jonathan Drouin and Jesse Ylönen.

“There’s not a forward who’s going to complain about getting an extra shift or two,” Evans said.

A warning

Finally, even though Cole Caufield has scored six goals in his last six games, St. Louis is not entirely satisfied with the line he forms with Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach. What annoys the coach: the length of their presence.

The three sidekicks are indeed the longest presences among the Canadian forwards. Suzuki’s shifts last an average of 56 seconds, 55 for Dach and 54 for Caufield. Most forwards are around 50 seconds, and among the permanent squad members, Evans (47 seconds) has the lowest average.

The difference may seem marginal, but for players who have more than 800 presences, it is not trivial.

“They have to shorten their presence, warned St-Louis. Sometimes you stretch your presence to go on offense, you think it’s a good time. But if you don’t have a surplus, it’s not worth stretching your presence because if anything happens, you don’t have the energy to come back. Then you’re caught in your zone, it gives presences of 1:20, 1:30 and it’s a long time to recover. »