The Montreal Canadiens have quietly built a shut down line

After their top-notch performance against the Boston Bruins Tuesday night, it’s time to recognize the shut down line the Montreal Canadiens have built.

When thinking of the best forward lines in the NHL, the Boston Bruins’ top line trio of David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand are at the top of the list right now. Boston had six-game winning streak going heading into Tuesday night, but went home with a 5-4 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Boston’s top line accounted for two points in the game, as Bergeron had an assist on a power play goal by Pastrnak in the first period. Marchand, meanwhile, had his 13-game point streak end. Canadiens’ coach Claude Julien regularly countered the Bruins’ juggernaut with a line of Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher.

This season so far, according to Natural Stat Trick, Danault has played 156 minutes with Tatar and 170 minutes with Gallagher. When the three are on the ice together, they have controlled nearly 60 percent of shot attempts.

Tuesday night against the Bruins’ incredibly potent top line, the results for the line centered by Danault were dramatically in Montreal’s favor in 5-on-5 play.

The ice tilted dramatically toward the Canadiens when the Danault line was on the ice against the Bruins in around 11 minutes played, with possession (CF, FF) and shots (SF) all favoring them in a way that is almost unbelievable. Boston was playing on the second night of a back-to-back, but that does not fully explain how Danault, Gallagher and Tatar shut down the so-called “perfection line.”

Julien deserves credit as the coach for putting Danault, Gallagher and Tatar together, but much-maligned Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin gets some credit too. Danault came to Montreal as a prospect via a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks in February of 2016, and Tatar was a throw-in to the deal that sent Max Pacioretty to the Vegas Golden Knights in September. Gallagher was drafted in 2010 before Bergevin arrived as the team’s general manager.

In 15 games this season, Danault (nine points), Gallagher (13 points) and Tatar (13 points) haven’t put up huge offensive numbers. But they are shutting down the top lines they are being matched against, that effort will continue to be integral part of a winning formula as the 8-5-2 Canadiens try to keep it going.