Article content

Canadiens coach Claude Julien said he didn’t know what to expect when he plugged Jacob De La Rose into the first-line centre slot normally filled by the injured Jonathan Drouin.

“To be honest with you, I didn’t know how it was going to work out,” Julien said of the switch, which will be in effect again Tuesday night when the Canadiens welcome the St. Louis Blues to the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio).

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Canadiens' Jacob De La Rose takes advantage of time on top line Back to video

“The only way I could find out was by trying,” said Julien, who moved De La Rose up from the fourth line. “He’s big and he can skate. In my estimation, he has a little more offensive talent than he brings on a lot of nights. First of all, I didn’t want to disrupt my other lines that were playing well. I thought it was the right move to make.”

After picking up his first point of the season in a 6-3 win in Detroit Thursday, De La Rose had a career night Saturday. He had a goal and two assists and was plus-4 as Montreal crushed Detroit 10-1 at the Bell Centre.