Habs make a highly anticipated change to their lineup ahead of Game 3 against the Leafs.

Fans have been calling for this.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
Habs make a highly anticipated change to their lineup ahead of Game 3 against the Leafs.
David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire/Getty

Montreal Canadiens fans are no doubt going to be happy about this one, as I have heard calls for this move on social media since the very start of their first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Although not officially confirmed by the team at the time of this writing, it now appears as though Habs rookie Cole Caufield will make his first career appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Monday night when the Canadiens and Leafs clash for Game 3 in their series. Caufield and fellow Canadiens rookie Alexander Romanov hit the ice early on Monday and were both spotted wearing red jerseys, a sign that they could both be making their debut in this series. 

In the case of Caufield, the youngster has been scheduled to meet with members of the Montreal media following the team's practice on Monday. Canadiens insider Eric Engels has taken this as confirmation that Caufield will in fact make his playoff debut this evening, although I would stress again that the Canadiens have yet to officially confirm the move.


Caufield was also seen working out with his teammates during the Canadiens regular line rushes at practice, where he was paired alongside Nick Suzuki at center and Joel Armira on the opposite wing. Here are how all four lines break down for the Canadiens based on their practice on Monday:

Toffoli-Kotkaniemi-Gallagher

Armia-Suzuki-Caufield

Byron-Danault-Anderson

Lehkonen-Staal-Perry

Of course if Caufield does indeed make his National Hockey League playoff debut on Monday night that means that another member of the Canadiens group will be sitting in the press box. Once again according to Engels it would appear as though veteran forward Tomas Tatar will be a healthy scratch for this one.

It looks like Caufield will also likely get some time on the power play this evening, with the Canadiens seemingly putting him on their second power play init during Monday's practice. Here are how the lines for both those units broke down at practice:

PP1:

Staal

Toffoli-Anderson-Suzuki

Weber

PP2:

Perry

Kotkaniemi-Gallagher-Caufield

Petry

Although Caufield looks like he will play at this point, it seems like Romanov may have to continue waiting on the sidelines. The defensive pairings at practice on Monday would appear to indicate that Jon Merill will continue to be used over him. Here is how those looked:

Chiarot-Weber

Edmundson-Petry

Kulak-Merill

Update: Although it initially appeared as though Tatar would be a healthy scratch tonight, it would seem he will play after all. According to Canadiens head coach Dominique DucharmeEric Staal is currently hurt and will be on the sidelines as a result.



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