As noted the other day, the key question the Caps and Spencer Carbery face is how to contain Montreal’s top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovski. The reason is simple: the trio has been one of the most dynamic lines in hockey, and generates the vast majority of the Canadiens scoring chances and goals:
In games 1 and 2, the unenviable task of slowing this line down has befallen the Caps primary shutdown line of Pierre Luc-Dubois, Connor McMichael, and Tom Wilson.
The results in game 1 were mixed:
Pierre-Luc Dubois (Spencer Carbery’s first choice to match Suzuki) was outshot (attempts) 15-7, and his linemates were bludgeoned 25-7 (Tom Wilson) and 21-6 (Connor McMichael) thanks to a brutal shift alongside Nic Dowd (outshot 9-2 by Suzuki, so not exactly a great alternative).