Each NHL team has a line that determines the temperature for the rest of the team. For the Montreal Canadiens, that line includes Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. When it’s buzzing, the team is playing downhill. When it doesn’t, everything feels harder than it should.
At this time the line is not buzzing.
Head Coach Martin St. Louis wants his top line to break through
Martin St. Louis spoke this week about wanting that line to go “into space” to break out of its rut. It’s a well-known coaching phrase and it sounds good. Space means time. Space means trust. Space means goals.
But here’s the problem: the space disappears as the season progresses. As the leaderboards tighten, games feel tougher. Teams hold on. What you’re seeing now, especially against teams fighting for the same oxygen, is playoff hockey in January clothes. There is less space, not more. And waiting for space to magically appear is not a plan; it is hope.
When Suzuki’s production line gets going, it won’t start on open ice. It has to start in traffic.
For the Canadiens, tight ice and hard truths
St. Louis alluded to the real issue behind the wording. Winning battles, extending strike zone time, and playing through people instead of around them are the keys to success. That’s where the space comes from this time of year – not from the rush, but from the retrieval, second attempts, and staying connected as a unit.
It’s not about one player being eliminated. What matters is that the line functions as a line.
If that group doesn’t win the first puck battle, the second battle doesn’t exist. If they don’t renew a service, there are no perks. And without those touches, skill never gets the chance to show itself. Frustration is creeping in, and as St. Louis notes, it’s evident. There are missed passes, hurled shots and plays forced instead of earned.
St. Louis knows this. You could hear it when he said the answers are “everywhere.” Coaches say that if the solution is not tactical, it is competitive.
Why the Canadiens’ first line is so important
The Canadiens don’t need a luxury line. They need it to be reliable. Suzuki is at his best when the play is orderly and predictable, when he can read the layers and control the tempo. Caufield thrives when the play is extended just long enough to allow the seams to open. Neither player benefits from one-off shifts or constant defense.
That’s why this line is the Canadiens’ top line, whether they want that label or not. When they have control of the puck, the bench settles down. If they don’t, the game quickly starts to wobble. Young teams in particular need their top line to absorb the pressure, not to increase it.
It’s understandable to put together other combinations to “get the team going.” Trainers do it all the time. But ultimately this comes back to the core. If Suzuki’s line doesn’t drive the play, the Canadiens are chasing the play instead of shaping it.
St. Louis sounds like a coach when he says space is earned, but not found
There will be moments of space – there always are. But they come after hard work, not before. They come after sticks on pucks, bodies in lanes and shifts that move past discomfort.
That is now the challenge for this line. As their coach notes, they can’t wait for the game to start. They have to force it open.
Because when the Canadiens’ top line starts moving again, a lot of other things will fall into place. And if it doesn’t, no amount of space talk is going to change the rankings.
Related: Did Team Canada Just Reveal Nick Suzuki’s Olympic Fate?
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