Coach Julien looks for scoring balance in demoting Galchenyuk to fourth line
BROSSARD, Que. — Five years into his NHL career, Alex Galchenyuk was supposed to be the high-scoring centre on the Montreal Canadiens top line.
Instead, the 23-year-old is slated begin the NHL playoffs on the fourth unit alongside checkers Steve Ott and Andreas Martinsen. Montreal faces the New York Rangers in the opening game of the best-of-seven series Wednesday night at the Bell Centre.
“I won’t think about it,” Galchenyuk said Monday. “We’ve got Game 1 coming up and everybody’s got to contribute and bring something to the team.”
“Me, personally, I can’t wait to get it going. Not having a chance to play last year was difficult, so you’ve been waiting all year to have that opportunity to play in the playoffs and you’re just excited.”