- Canadiens head coach Jacques Martin decided to shake things up for Friday night's game against the Buffalo Sabres (7:30 p.m., RDS, CJAD Radio-800), but Benoit Pouliot says he doesn't see his drop to the fourth line as a punishment.
And neither does Martin.
"It's not just Benny, it's the whole line that's not producing," Martin said of his decision to use Travis Moen in Pouliot's place on the line with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. "Benny had a couple of scoring chances in the game last night and I just feel that by putting him on a different line, there will be less pressure on him."
Pouliot, who will be playing on a line with Dustin Boyd and Tom Pyatt, said that a similar move last season might have bothered him, but he said that Martin talked to him and explained the reasoning behind the move.
Pouliot has been making his presence felt in a physical way. He was credited with five hits in Wednesday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"It's way of getting into the game," Pouliot said of his physical play. "And it makes the defencemen think. If they know they might get hit, they may be more likely to turn the puck over."
The shift on the Gomez line is one of several changes that are likely for Friday night's game.
In practice Thursday, Martin reunited Czechs Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek on defence and that's at least partially based on Hamrlik's successful season debut against Tampa. He played more than 20 minutes and showed no ill effects from the knee injury that kept him out of training camp.
P.K. Subban had been playing with Spacek and he found himself dropped down to the third pair with Alexandre Picard, who was a healthy scratch against Tampa Bay. Martin said Subban is still learning to play within a team concept and that he hurt the team when he took what the coach described as an undisciplined penalty late in the third period. That led to a power-play goal by Steven Stamkos that sent the game into overtime.
Ryan O'Byrne appeared headed to the press box after practicing with the injured Andrei Markov. The latter continues to improve after offseason knee surgery, but Martin said his absence remains indefinite.
There's unlikely to be a change in goal even with the team playing back-to-back games with Ottawa visiting the Bell Centre Saturday night.
When asked about the possibility of using Alex Auld in one of the games, Martin said: "Maybe." But he went on to say that it's early in the season and there's no reason why a young goaltender like Carey Price shouldn't be able to handle both games.
He said Price has played well, although he has only one win in three games. He has a 2.95 goals-against average, but a good .918 save percentage.
The Canadiens worked on their power play in their practice at Brossard before flying here. The Canadiens are 0-for-9 for the season and Martin said he wants to see more of a net presence.
"We're spending too much time on the perimeter," the coach said.
The Sabres will be without Repentigny native Jason Pominville, who was Buffalo's leading scorer against the Canadiens last season with a goal and four assists. He suffered a concussion when he was driven into the boards by Chicago's Niklas Hjalmarsson Saturday. Hjalmarsson was suspernded for two games, while Pominville is out indefinuitely.
And neither does Martin.
"It's not just Benny, it's the whole line that's not producing," Martin said of his decision to use Travis Moen in Pouliot's place on the line with Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta. "Benny had a couple of scoring chances in the game last night and I just feel that by putting him on a different line, there will be less pressure on him."
Pouliot, who will be playing on a line with Dustin Boyd and Tom Pyatt, said that a similar move last season might have bothered him, but he said that Martin talked to him and explained the reasoning behind the move.
Pouliot has been making his presence felt in a physical way. He was credited with five hits in Wednesday's 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
"It's way of getting into the game," Pouliot said of his physical play. "And it makes the defencemen think. If they know they might get hit, they may be more likely to turn the puck over."
The shift on the Gomez line is one of several changes that are likely for Friday night's game.
In practice Thursday, Martin reunited Czechs Roman Hamrlik and Jaroslav Spacek on defence and that's at least partially based on Hamrlik's successful season debut against Tampa. He played more than 20 minutes and showed no ill effects from the knee injury that kept him out of training camp.
P.K. Subban had been playing with Spacek and he found himself dropped down to the third pair with Alexandre Picard, who was a healthy scratch against Tampa Bay. Martin said Subban is still learning to play within a team concept and that he hurt the team when he took what the coach described as an undisciplined penalty late in the third period. That led to a power-play goal by Steven Stamkos that sent the game into overtime.
Ryan O'Byrne appeared headed to the press box after practicing with the injured Andrei Markov. The latter continues to improve after offseason knee surgery, but Martin said his absence remains indefinite.
There's unlikely to be a change in goal even with the team playing back-to-back games with Ottawa visiting the Bell Centre Saturday night.
When asked about the possibility of using Alex Auld in one of the games, Martin said: "Maybe." But he went on to say that it's early in the season and there's no reason why a young goaltender like Carey Price shouldn't be able to handle both games.
He said Price has played well, although he has only one win in three games. He has a 2.95 goals-against average, but a good .918 save percentage.
The Canadiens worked on their power play in their practice at Brossard before flying here. The Canadiens are 0-for-9 for the season and Martin said he wants to see more of a net presence.
"We're spending too much time on the perimeter," the coach said.
The Sabres will be without Repentigny native Jason Pominville, who was Buffalo's leading scorer against the Canadiens last season with a goal and four assists. He suffered a concussion when he was driven into the boards by Chicago's Niklas Hjalmarsson Saturday. Hjalmarsson was suspernded for two games, while Pominville is out indefinuitely.
