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Philip Danault said this morning that he felt the Canadiens were far from their best playing level last night, a bit like against Vegas at first just outside looking in, but he’s confident they’ll be able to step up and be better straight from game 2. It will be time to get down to business, stop being spectators and step in. Being the away team, there’s not that much Montreal can do to in terms of match ups, but they may be able to do some line-up adjustments.
Firstly, the game was really physical, and that’s not exactly Erik Gustafsson’s forte, last night he very nearly cost the Canadiens a goal. Perhaps it would be time to consider bring Alexander Romanov back in the fold. Yes, he’s made mistakes in the past in term of shifts length, but this is the Canadiens’ defenseman of the future, he needs to get experience in this type of situation. Besides, his hit on Alex Pientrangelo kind of set the tone in the series against Vegas.
Do not expect Brendan Gallagher to be missing tomorrow night though, even if he did look worst for wear after landing headfirst on the ice thanks to Sergachev. The Habs might also want to consider Joel Armia back in the line-up. While I do like Jake Evans, Armia was doing well on the 4th line alongside Staal and Perry and I wouldn’t be shocked to see him draw right back in the line-up. Armia is imposing, strong on the puck and could stickhandle in a phone booth, his skills would be quite useful.
Today, the Canadiens reveal that they’ve asked permission to host more fans for games 3 and 4 in Montreal. They’ve pitched a scenario where the Bell Centre would be half-full, and therefore hosting 10 500 fans. The authorities have yet to respond but the Habs are awaiting their decision quite soon. There’s no doubt that a half full building would help give the local favourites a much-needed boost.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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