Canadiens still need Brendan Gallagher in the playoffs, whether he plays or not

PHILADELPHIA — There was symbolism dripping from the Montreal Canadiens’ final game of the regular season.

The Canadiens were attempting to at least force the Tampa Bay Lightning to win their final game Wednesday night to have home-ice advantage in their first-round playoff series, but that series itself — no matter where it is starting — is symbolic of a lot.

The Lightning beat the Canadiens in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final in five games, a loss that led to the Canadiens rebuild and subsequently led to their hiring Lightning legend Martin St. Louis as their coach. Beating the Lightning five years later would be a sign that rebuild is coming to fruition and a real contention window is starting to open.

But there was also a big symbol of that rebuild in the Canadiens lineup. Defenceman David Reinbacher, the No. 5 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, was playing his second NHL game against the player so many fans wanted the Canadiens to take with that pick instead, Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov, who scored his 20th goal of the season and added two assists in a 4-2 Flyers win Tuesday night. Reinbacher has played well in his two NHL games and has shown there is a strong possibility he will fill an important role on this team just as that contention window is opening to its fullest.

But since St. Louis has become coach, the strongest symbolism he has used was when he described goaltender Jake Allen as being a player willing to plant a tree, knowing he will never get to sit in its shade. It is a widely used quote whose sourcing is not quite clear but whose meaning is. Any successful rebuild needs players willing to plant those seeds even though they won’t get to harvest the fruit.

Allen did that as a great leader for years. But perhaps no one has done that as much as Brendan Gallagher, and what makes it harder for him is he is so painfully close to being able to sit in that shade he helped create, and yet, after being scratched in four straight games before playing this regular-season finale, seemed resigned to the reality he will be watching that shade from a press box.

“Every game in that jersey is special to me,” Gallagher said after scoring once and helping to create some netfront chaos on Montreal’s other goal, as he has so often in his career. “Obviously, I’ve been out of the lineup for a while, so I just wanted to play well. Just wanted to have a game you can be proud of and try to contribute to the team’s success. I thought I did that. We’ll see what happens going forward.”

When Gallagher first made the Canadiens out of the lockout in 2013, he was scratched for the opening game, appearing in a suit to salute the crowd at the home opener at the Bell Centre when he was introduced. He told himself that night it would be the last time he would be a healthy scratch.

It took a little more than 13 years for it to happen again, but it did March 14, a game St. Louis prefaced by saying Gallagher would be back in the lineup the next game.

There is no such guarantee for Gallagher anymore. And he knows it.

“I think right now obviously the focus is on the playoffs,” Gallagher said. “Whatever’s asked of me, just try to show up for the team. That’s what I’m going to do. Like I said, this game was important to me, and it felt like I just wanted to put together an effort I would be proud of. Obviously, it’s an exciting time for the team right now getting ready for the playoffs.”

Gallagher was one of several players in uniform getting one final audition ahead of the playoffs, players on the lineup bubble, and though St. Louis said they would not be making lineup decisions based on one game, it was a final viewing for several of them. Joe Veleno had a strong game playing opposite Gallagher on the fourth line. Reinbacher and Adam Engström had some ups and downs on the blue line, but with Noah Dobson expected to miss the start of the series against the Lightning, one of them might have a shot at playing on the right side of the defence. Arber Xhekaj might have had his best game of the season, Jayden Struble did not, but Struble has been much stronger than Xhekaj for weeks.

And as St. Louis has juggled his forward lines ever since the Canadiens clinched a playoff spot April 5, Zack Bolduc, Kirby Dach, Alexandre Texier, and to some extent, rookie Oliver Kapanen had a final opportunity to stake a claim on a role and a spot in the lineup for Game 1 against the Lightning.

“I think we have great options, we’ve got guys that can help the team, we’re going to need all hands on deck,” St. Louis said. “We’re going to start with 20 (players), and that might change throughout a series, who knows.”

There is no guarantee Gallagher will be one of those 20, just as there’s no guarantee he won’t be. But he appears to see the writing on the wall, and that has to hurt.

But it shouldn’t. Because even if he won’t necessarily be in the lineup, Gallagher is a big part of what will happen for the Canadiens in the playoffs.

The first Canadiens player Cole Caufield met after being drafted in Vancouver in 2019 was Gallagher, someone he has looked up to most of his life. Anything Caufield does in the playoffs is at least in part because of Gallagher’s guidance.

Nick Suzuki was named captain in 2022 just after his 23rd birthday, becoming the youngest captain in franchise history. Today, Suzuki is the unquestioned leader of this team, but as the Canadiens navigated the constant losing of the rebuild, Gallagher was his alternate captain, helping to shoulder that load until Suzuki was ready to take it on fully.

Juraj Slafkovský sat next to Gallagher in the Canadiens dressing room when he arrived as an 18-year-old immediately after being the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. There was a lot of ribbing from Gallagher over that time, but a lot of guidance as well.

That’s just a sample of the impact Gallagher has had on this team reaching this point, one when the Canadiens had a chance to gain home-ice advantage against a Lightning team they’ve always hoped to emulate, a process they can complete by beating the most playoff-hardened team in the league in a playoff series.

“The future of this team is in a really good spot,” Gallagher said. “Everyone’s aware of that. I think last year’s playoffs was experience the guys can learn from and draw from, and that’s going to be important. I think you understand the physicality is going to be high, and these guys are prepared to handle it.

“A really, really dynamic group that I think is excited for the opportunity.”

“I think” is a heavy term there. Its use suggests Gallagher feels he is outside that really, really dynamic group, something that was confirmed when he was asked about his previous use of the past-tense talking about his time with the Canadiens and making zero effort to walk it back.

It was difficult not to think Gallagher felt he had just played his final game in a Canadiens uniform, despite having another year left on his contract.

That might or might not be true, because the Canadiens have games ahead of them, vital games, the types of games Gallagher has always excelled in. Whether he is in the lineup or not, Gallagher has a wealth of knowledge he can use to help the young, dynamic group he is still fully a part of experience some success in this massive challenge.

Because, even if he might not be able to see it right now, if the Canadiens can overcome that challenge and beat the team they have always hoped to be, Gallagher should still feel like he’s a part of it, whether he’s wearing a suit or the Canadiens sweater he has worn so proudly just about every night since he appeared in a suit at the home opener in 2013.

He should still be able to enjoy the considerable shade from the tree he had a huge hand in planting.