Habs make some significant lineup changes with their backs against the wall in Game 5

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HockeyFeed
Published 2 years ago
Habs make some significant lineup changes with their backs against the wall in Game 5
Zuma Press

The Montreal Canadiens are in Toronto today to face the Maple Leafs this evening in what could be the team's last game this season.

After winning Game 1 of the series by a score of 2 to 1, the Habs dropped the next three games and now they have their collective backs up against a wall and could be sent packing if they don't put in a strong performance this evening. 

In an attempt to shake up his team and inspire some confidence, head coach Dominique Ducharme has made some pretty significant changes to his lineup.

Offensive defencmen Erik Gustafsson , acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline, will draw into the lineup for youngster Alexander Romanov. It's not yet known if defenceman Brett Kulak has been ruled out of the lineup, but if he's included it looks like Ducharme will go with the rare 7 defence and 11 forwards lineup. Typically a team would dress just 6 defencemen and 12 forwards, but the flexibility of having an additional defenceman to work with can sometimes bring about a huge benefit. As it stands, here's how the Habs' lineup should shake out this evening:

Forwards
Tomas Tatar
Phillip Danault
Brendan Gallagher
Tyler Toffoli
Nick Suzuki
Cole Caufield
Paul Byron
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
Josh Anderson
Joel Armia
Eric Staal
Corey Perry
Defence
Joel Edmundson
Jeff Petry
Ben Chiarot
Shea Weber
Erik Gustafsson
Jon Merrill
Goalies
Carey Price
Jake Allen

Thoughts, Habs fans?

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