The Canadian | Matheson back, change line

Posted On: December 17, 2022

Ultimately, Mike Matheson’s absence was short-lived. The defenseman will return to the Canadians’ lineup Saturday night when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit.

Posted at 1:14 p.m

According to the official version, Matheson has missed the last four games with a “lower body injury”. In his own words, it was “something in the lower body that kept hurting,” he explained after Saturday’s morning practice session.

His comeback comes in time for CH, who went 1-3-0 in his absence. The only win came on a penalty shootout and the Montrealers were limited to seven goals in those four games.

In a team that has few talented defenders offensively, Matheson actually presents a different profile than his fellow defenders. The Montreal native had six points in nine games but also posted a -4 difference.

“He creates a lot of offense,” said Jordan Harris, his partner for Saturday’s game. He leads the power play. He was really excellent at switching and supporting the attack. I think he’s made about five breakaways this season! »

Impressive is his ability to support the attack and come back quickly. Few guys do that. And he chooses his moment to support the attack. He doesn’t run like a headless hen. He’s like a hunting animal, he uses his speed at the right moment.

Johnathan Kovacevic

Matheson will also simplify the management of the numerical advantage, whose first unit consisted of five attackers, in recent games. Matheson is used in all situations and its average usage time is 24 min 25 s

New threesome

Chris Wideman will jump into defense with the return of Matheson. Wideman is joined on the catwalk by Evgenii Dadonov.

Dadonov’s withdrawal is just one of many offensive changes. St-Louis will try a new experience with Kirby Dach, who will form a trio with Jonathan Drouin and Juraj Slafkovsky. Josh Anderson will replace Dach alongside inseparable Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

St. Louis justified his decision by saying he wanted to “manage” the middle position more as he nears a seven-game road streak in which he won’t have the final say on line changes.

“We wanted more depth in every line. Jo and Dacher (Drouin and Dach) can help each other in face-offs, I really liked Jo in the middle in the last two games. They are both attacking types, and Slaf (Slafkovsky) brings gravity and north-south play. »

These various changes also ensure that Jake Evans returns to the fourth row. The extra minutes he’s been getting from Sean Monahan since being injured didn’t allow him to break the ice for good. After 30 games, Evans still hasn’t scored. He has five assists.

Jake Allen will defend the Canadian net. He will face Andrei Vasilevskiy.