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TORONTO — “Reunited and it feels so good.”
Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin are probably too young to know the hit song “Reunited” by the R&B vocal duo Peaches & Herb that sold more than 2 million copies and was ranked the No. 5 song for 1979 by Billboard. But it would have been a good song for them to listen to on the bus ride back to the NHL’s Royal York Hotel bubble after Friday afternoon’s 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 2 of their playoff series, which is now tied 1-1.
Game 3 is Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena (8 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio).
Associate coach Kirk Muller — taking over the head-coaching duties from the ailing Claude Julien — decided to reunite Domi and Drouin on a line with Jesperi Kotkaniemi as their centre for Game 2. The result: two goals by Kotkaniemi, three assists from Domi and one assist for Drouin.
As Peaches & Herb sang: “Me minus you is such a lonely ride … The breakup we had has made me lonesome and sad.”
Domi and Drouin had success early last season when they were linemates, but Julien eventually split them up and never put them back together. It was hard to understand why, especially as Drouin struggled down the stretch last season with only one goal in his last 25 games.
It’s understandable how Drouin can frustrate a coach — not to mention Canadiens fans — with the way he plays, but there’s no doubt he has offensive skills and maybe if Julien had tried putting him back with Domi last season it might have lit a spark. A few more goals from Drouin down the stretch and maybe the Canadiens would have made the playoffs instead of coming up two points short.
Julien is a very good coach, but he can be stubborn and he definitely was when it came to Domi and Drouin, who didn’t play together during the regular season this year. Julien finally put them back together with Kotkaniemi midway through the third period of a 2-1 loss to the Flyers in Game 1 of this series and Muller decided to start Game 2 with that trio still together.
“Obviously, it’s no secret Jo and I are very close off the ice, spend a lot of time away from the rink together and we love playing together,” Domi said after the game. “So it was a lot of fun to get out there with him tonight.”
Muller was asked after the game if it was his decision alone to put the two buddies together, moving Domi up from the fourth line where he had been buried since the start of the postseason.
