Rematch against Hurricanes prompts early lineup dilemma for Canadiens

BROSSARD, Que. — Halfway through Monday’s spirited Montreal Canadiens practice, Florian Xhekaj took repetitions on a line with Jake Evans and Josh Anderson.

It’s a line on which you’d bet all your money to stay intact for Tuesday’s game — if it wasn’t against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Sure, changes are absolutely in order after a sloppy 6-5 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday and Xhekaj is one of a few players champing at the bit to get in. Oliver Kapanen is another, and he appears ready after starting the season day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

Then there’s Adam Engstrom, who also deserves a look before Kaiden Guhle is fully recovered from the surgery that kept him out of training camp and the first two games of the season. And don’t forget about goaltender Samuel Montembeault, who had a hot pre-season and logically shouldn’t be left cooling on the sidelines for too much longer — especially after Jakub Dobes was overly generous in the loss to the Penguins.

But pulling Dobes, or any of the other Canadiens who played and lost those games in the Eastern Conference Final to the eventual Cup champion Hurricanes, makes the decision harder for Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis.

He knows Tuesday’s date was circled by every player in his room as soon as the schedule came out. He knows this game offers the Canadiens their first crack at vengeance — in their home opener, no less — and he knows the sting of missing it would feel that much sharper than if this was just one of 84 games.

But it’s not, and everyone from St. Louis to Nick Suzuki to Kirby Dach knows it.

We didn’t pick that last name out of a hat, by the way. We’re mentioning Dach because, from our vantage, he was one of the hardest workers at Monday’s practice, following up two solid performances out of the gate.

But we also know Dach is all but guaranteed to be pulled out of the lineup if both Xhekaj and Kapanen enter.

Dach could even be susceptible even if it’s only one or the other, despite St. Louis praising his performance against Toronto last Tuesday: “He was hard on the puck, he was physical, he had an annoying stick, he made some plays, and his intentions were very mature.”

Even if Dach was less than all that in the loss to the Penguins, he was more than another player fighting to stay in the lineup.

Yes, Alex Texier was far from primed in Pittsburgh.

You know who was, though? Zachary Bolduc — another depth player who actually played a primary role in some of the good we saw from the Canadiens in that game.

Still, Xhekaj needs to get in at some point. And if Kapanen is healthy enough to play, the thought that he’d go from second-line centre to healthy scratch without even having played a game seems far-fetched.

We also can’t imagine Engstrom sitting much longer with Guhle (who practised in a full-contact jersey Monday for the first time since this summer’s corrective surgery on his adductor muscle) edging closer to returning.

“Ideally, we get on some kind of rotation where we keep everybody engaged, because these players are ready to play, too, and we have to manage that,” St. Louis said last week.

He knows that’ll be hard to establish under any circumstances, but particularly under the ones directly in front of him.

Should Ivan Demidov, who missed Monday’s practice in favour of treatment and rest, not be available, the decision becomes slightly easier.

But that doesn’t appear likely, and sorting out the rest of the lineup — against this opponent, in the opening game at the Bell Centre — will require some deep thought.

St. Louis said giving players the opportunity to avenge their playoff loss was “part of the equation.”

But he also said “we’ll see what (Tuesday) brings,” and that all the other factors would be taken into consideration.

On Monday, St. Louis wouldn’t confirm Xhekaj’s season debut. He didn’t comment on the potential changes on the blue line, and he wasn’t interested in naming a starting goaltender.

As for facing the Hurricanes, whom the Canadiens beat four times in a row — three times in the regular season and once in the playoffs — before losing four straight last season, St. Louis said “it’s going to be a good a challenge.”