BROSSARD - When Daniel Brière was sent to the penalty box for holding midway through the third period of Monday night's 3-2 loss in Philadelphia, Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta were sent over the boards.
No surprise there.
But joining them was Lars Eller, which was definitely a surprise, at least to me.
And I wasn't the only one.
"Me too," Eller said Wednesday morning after the Canadiens skate in preparation to host the Los Angeles Kings at the Bell Centre.
Unfortunately, not much of anything happened over that 1:08 of power play time, Eller's first real opportunity to prove himself on that special teams unit all season.
"When you get one chance you hope something happens so you're more noticeable," Eller said. "But it was a step in the right direction.
"Hopefully, I'll get some more chances."
One of those chances appears to be coming tonight, as Eller is expected to play on a line with Benoit Pouliot and Mathieu Darche.
It's not a huge promotion, but it's something for a player who has shown some encouraging signs of late.
"Since that Vancouver game I'm starting to feel more comfortable, I'm getting adjusted to the pace of the game and making better decisions all over the ice," Eller said. "Pouliot is skilled with the puck and Darche is good at working in the corners. Hopefully we get something going tonight."
Still, Eller's trying not to look at it as a promotion.
"From my experience," he said, "you try to think about stuff like that as little as possible."
Good policy.
And he's probably right because the line Jeff Halpern is expected to form with Tom Pyatt and Maxim Lapierre will probably get its share of ice time. But one thing the move does indicate is that Jacques Martin will probably roll all four lines against the Kings a little more than he has in the past little while, at least to start the game.
Meanwhile, Darche is also going to get some time on the power play alongside Scott Gomez and Michael Cammalleri, with a very clearly defined role as the net presence guy on the unit.
I've always had trouble understanding why NHL players will often talk about standing in front of the net, but won't actually do it. Before the lockout it was understandable, because defencemen had free reign to turn their sticks into weapons in front of their net. But now? Not so much, so why not go stand there when no one is allowed to really stop you?
Darche provided some insight into the matter.
"The biggest thing is you can't be afraid of the puck," he said. "A lot of guys, when a shot's coming in they'll turn their bodies, but that makes them much smaller in front and it's tougher to tip pucks.
If you're not afraid of getting hit by the puck you can be effective in front."
Darche said that as an elite player in the AHL, playing this role was his bread and butter.
With the Canadiens power play sputtering along right now, Martin is hoping that transfers well to the NHL level.
Canadiens lines
Forwards
Kostitsyn – Plekanec – Gionta
Cammalleri – Gomez – Moen
Pouliot – Eller – Darche
Pyatt – Halpern – Lapierre
Scratch: Boyd
Defence
Hamrlik – Spacek
Gill – Gorges
Picard – Subban
Scratch: Weber
Goal
Price
Auld
Kings lines
Forwards
King – Kopitar – Brown
Smyth – Stoll – Williams
Simmonds – Handzus – Clifford
Richardson – Lewis – Harrold
Defence
Doughty – Scuderi
Johnson – Greene
Drewiske – Martinez
Goal
Bernier
Quick
