CANADIENS
Montreal

5-2

SENATORS
Ottawa

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Tatar – Danault – Gallagher
Drouin – Domi – Shaw
Byron – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen
Deslauriers – Chaput – Agostino
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Kulak – Weber
Schlemko – Petry
Reilly – Benn

[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Niemi

Scratches

Hudon, Peca, Ouellet

Injuries

Armia, Juulsen

Game Report 

The Ottawa Senators are not a very good team. Eliminate Matt Duchene and Bobby Ryan from the Sens lineup and the result was domination by the Canadiens.

But before Ottawa’s top forwards were forced to exit, once again, the Habs relied on Carey Price to make save after save. Brady Tkachuk is likely still shaking his head after Price made a spectacular glove save snuffing out an Ottawa 3-on-1.

Pretty wild start to this Habs-Sens game. Carey Price sharp as a tac.

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) December 7, 2018

Price has now made six consecutive starts for the Canadiens. He was brilliant in each game. And prior to that Price put the team on his back and almost single-handedly delivered four points on the Western Canadian road trip.

His numbers are a reflection of the borderline NHL defence that he has played behind all season. That defence has obviously been bolstered by the return of Shea Weber. Since the return of the captain to the lineup, the Canadiens have averaged more than 40 shots per night.

Weber has also been able to prop up the play of his defence partner. Brett Kulak better belongs on the last pairing of the Canadiens defence, but alongside Weber, has, at times, looked like a reasonable facsimile of a No. 2 d-man.

Tonight though was a struggle for Kulak. Price was called upon to bail out Kulak on multiple occasions after two egregious turnovers. Kulak took the only Canadiens penalty tonight and was in the box for Colin White’s goal.

In addition to Weber’s impact on the Canadiens, Paul Byron has made his presence felt. Byron has had strong chemistry with linemates Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Artturi  Lehkonen. And last game Byron was used to jumpstart the play of Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin.

===

▲  Carey Price, Paul Byron, Jeff Petry, Brendan Gallagher

▼  Brett Kulak, Mike Reilly

1. Paul Byron  MTL
2. Colin White  OTT
3. Jeff Petry  MTL

• “We had some chances, but I thought (the Senators) wanted to be really physical on us. But our guys got going and after we tied the game, we handled the rest of the game pretty well,”
• “I think it was 3-1 when we slipped a little, but we picked it up again in the third and we played a good road game against a team that’s been playing well at home.”
• “We’ve talked about how we want to finish. When you have the lead, it’s easy to sit back and feel comfortable and we’ve done that this year. In the last little while, we’ve been better in the third, even when we’re ahead.”

Brendan Gallagher

• “For the most part we had a pretty complete game and it’s nice when everyone contributes.”
• “We’re trying to get on a bit of a win streak and pick up some points. We knew we had some time off after this one, so we put a lot of emphasis on these two games and we got the job done.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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— Devils Insiders (@DevilsInsiders) December 7, 2018

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— All Habs (@AllHabs) September 22, 2018

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