The only reason we're in the playoffs is because the line of Tanguay-Koivu-Kovalev hauled our ***** into them down the stretch, so it baffles me that they get split up to start the series.
Tanguay Koivu Kovalev
Latendresse Lappiere Andrei
Higgins Metropolit Kostopoulos
Stewart Plekanec Laraque
I like this
It's sad that Lapierre has to be our 2nd line center but at this point he can't be worse than Plekanec. (and that's not a knock on Lapierre. He's great but he's not a 2nd line center).
We won't win any cups with this lineup but it's probably the best thing we can ice under the current circumstances. We just have to hope for the best.
The whole purpose for putting BGL on the 1st line was to help neutralize Chara. Who is always matched up against our 1st line. Personally I think he did a very good job with that.
If we were to switch BGL with Latendresse, he would get killed in the match up against Chara and would be useless IMO.
Now I wasn't a big fan of BGL playing the majority of the game with Koivu and Kovalev. I felt that once the Bruins took the lead 3-2, Gainey should have abandoned the idea and slipped Tanguay back on the line.
As far as I'm concerned, we played a good game yesterday. If it weren't for a questionable call during the POs, the Bs wouldn't have scored. Kosto completely misread that play too.
I don't think we need to change the lines really. Like H10H said, the only thing I would have done differently is limit Laraque's time when we were down 3-2.
But seeing as the lines worked pretty much all night...I understand why Gainey didn't.
We need to keep our first line together, Chara plays half the game anyway so you can have lots of opportunity to have Laraque out there to agitate, but just do it with Plek and Kost please! Putting Laraque on with Koivu and Kovy completely sucks any chance of offense right out of them.
I don't even care what the lines are the next game. Plekanec, likely, will have to play by default. He doesn't deserve to be dressed over D'Agostini, but he will be.
Tangs - Saku - Kovy
Lats - Laps - Dags
Higs - Metro - AK46
Stew - Plek - Laraque
I wouldn't have a problem with this either as long as pleks is playing on the 4th line. Kosto is a warrior true but he's got no finish. Then again I just remembered that he was our best player in the playoffs last year as funny as that sounds. Dags has the ability to turn it on and can make for a great x-factor. lats/laps could be the guys to help him do it.
1 - While BGL worked on the big line, it is the TKO line that got us here so I would re-unite them.
2- Higgins may have been the best Hab last night and he works well with Metro. I like the idea of putting AKosty on this line
3- They may not have had their best game but I think the Lapierre line needs to remain intact and step it up
4-Unfortunately, Pleks is struggling, so he deserves to be on the 4th line. BGL needs to stay in the game and if healthy, I would add S. Kosty to the line-up. Otherwise Stewart or D'ago works
I think even though he is a rookie, it might be wise to replace Brisebois with Weber. Or, better yet, make the 4th line BGL-Pleks-Weber, so Weber can play on the PP.
We need to keep our first line together, Chara plays half the game anyway so you can have lots of opportunity to have Laraque out there to agitate, but just do it with Plek and Kost please! Putting Laraque on with Koivu and Kovy completely sucks any chance of offense right out of them.
Laraque isn't out there to agitate, he is out there to free Kovalev from Chara.
my aplogies, and the reason why we want Kovalev to be Chara free is simple. Would you rather have Chara defending our top forward or Alberts?
By "freeing" Kovalev from Chara, the repercussions just aren't worth it. You are:
-moving Kovy to his off wing
-playing Laraque on the top line which will only drag them down
-breaking up a line which led us into the playoffs
-Again, Kovy has always had success against Chara
The whole purpose for putting BGL on the 1st line was to help neutralize Chara. Who is always matched up against our 1st line. Personally I think he did a very good job with that.
If we were to switch BGL with Latendresse, he would get killed in the match up against Chara and would be useless IMO.
Now I wasn't a big fan of BGL playing the majority of the game with Koivu and Kovalev. I felt that once the Bruins took the lead 3-2, Gainey should have abandoned the idea and slipped Tanguay back on the line.
I think Gainey is thinking more long term with the chara/laraque matchup. We wont know if this strategy is successul until at least game 4 or 5. Perhaps he wants to wear chara out more before he starts sticking tanguay back on the line. Anyways, I feel that games 3 and 4 will primarily feature tanguay with koivu and kovalev as gainey can avoid the chara matchup with the last change.
My concern is not the job that laraque is doing. I think he's doing the best he can. Rather, my concern is how this change affects kovalev. Laraque is a dump and chase guy who likes to create by working down low. Kovalev likes to play the transition game and create chances off the rush. With one less option, kovalev cannot play his game.
So, do we let chara have his way with the top line and see what happens, or do we continually grind on chara and hopefully, reap the rewards as the series progresses?
Anyone else notice when Kovalev has been on the ice with Lapierre and Lantendresse, that they create good scoring chances. It happened once last night and it also happened the other game against Pittsburgh. That is something I would try if we need to get scoring from more than just the one line.
