Depth Perception

     

    In the Montreal Canadiens' three seasons between 2009 and 2011, their best defenceman was Andrei Markov. Those years were some of the hardest of his career. In 2009 he sustained his first serious knee injury that required surgical repair. The next season's first game saw him go down again, this time in a freak collision with Carey Price's skate that cut his left ankle and cost him 35 games. Then, in the second round of the playoffs, Markov took a hard hit from legendary dirt bag Matt Cooke that ended his post season and forced him into another knee surgery. Seven games into the 2011 season, Eric Staal took him out again, reinjuring the knee and sending him back under the knife.

    In those three seasons, even though they made the Conference Finals in 2010, the Habs had few options when Markov was out of the lineup. The Canadiens were 22-25-5 without Markov and 70-43-17 with him. That’s a .471 points percentage versus .604. In a parity league, that's a huge difference.

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    This year, under Kent Hughes' management, the team lost one of its top minute-eating defencemen in Noah Dobson right before the playoffs. Questions swirled around how the Habs would survive against a savvy, solid team like Tampa. Well, after five games in the first round, they have the series lead over the Lightning and in tight-checking games have held their own on defence. It's not that they haven't missed Dobson, but their options are so much better now than they were in 2009.

    They lose Dobson so Arber Xhekaj and Jaden Struble step up their games and provide stability on the blueline. Sam Montembeault loses his mojo and Jakub Dobes shines in his place. Patrik Laine gets hurt and rookie Ivan Demidov proves he belongs. In this series, the first line disappears and the newly-compiled trio of Kirby Dach, Zach Bolduc and Alex Texier take over and drive the team on the scoreboard. This is a team that has the luxury of sitting playoff heart-and-soul veteran Brendan Gallagher for their first four playoff games. (Although Gally's insertion into the Game Five lineup looks today like a genius move by Martin St.Louis.) These are not Bob Gainey's Canadiens, and definitely not Pierre Gauthier's. 

    Some will say playoffs are won in goal. Others say you win with defence. Hughes knows the real story: long-term, you win with depth. That's why he traded for Bolduc and signed Texier after the Blues cut him loose. It's why he made Dach a reclamation project from Chicago. It's why he brought Phil Danault back from L.A. And it's why he was willing to trade a fine prospect and two first-rounders to acquire Dobson. 

    Aside from Dobson, none of those guys were expected to star on a team with players like Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky up front, dominating in ice time and offensive opportunities. When crunch time hit, though, all of them have stepped up to carry the team when it matters most. This, we now can see, is why Hughes made those moves. 

    In earlier seasons, if the first line didn't show up or Andrei Markov was absent, you could pretty well predict a quick playoff exit. (Without Markov, they were swept by the Bruins in 2009.) Now this tight group has each other's backs and can fill each other's places when needed. This is a team on which any player can be a hero on any night.

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    It's also a team with the kind of internal competition that keeps everyone on their toes and playing hard in order to keep their places in the lineup. With this bunch, complacency leads to the pressbox and they know it. 

    Hughes has built this team not just with depth, but with quality depth. These guys are smart and skilled and can be slotted in anywhere. Every D this season has played with every other one. The first line struggles, so Josh Anderson jumps up there from the bottom six to give it a spark.

    It makes St.Louis' job much tougher when everyone is healthy and every player is pulling his weight. It couldn't have been easy for him to sit a warrior like Gallagher; a class act the coach really likes. And he probably lost sleep as he decided what to do about Dach who'd been the goat in Game Two. That's the flip side of depth: somebody has to be the odd man out, even when he hasn't done anything wrong.

    Still, in the playoffs, depth isn't a luxury. It's a necessity and it's how you win.

    Just ask Andrei Markov.