Canadiens Lineup

Jonathan Drouin  – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Tomas Tatar – Max Domi – Andrew Shaw 

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia 

Nicolas Deslauriers – Nate Thompson – Dale Weise

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Mike Reilly – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Jordie Benn

Carey Price – Antti Niemi

Christian Folin, Charles Hudon, Matthew Peca

Paul Byron (upper body)

Game Report

The measuring stick was out again tonight as the Canadiens faced one of the best in the West. And if you squint hard, the Habs can sorta compete.

Let’s say, you only look at the second period. Well, Montreal was quick and dominated possession for long stretches. Just don’t ask what happened in the first and third.

Goaltending is where the Habs did measure up. Carey Price and Pekka Rinne went toe to toe trading saves throughout the game.

This game was decided on mistakes. The Canadiens first line was on the ice for all three Nashville goals. Phillip Danault, Jonathan Drouin and Brendan Gallagher were a combined minus-8.

And it was the second consecutive game where the bottom of the opposition lineup scored twice against Montreal. Meanwhile, the Canadiens rebuilt fourth line had a miserable game being dominated on most shifts. Corsi for percentage numbers for this line were worst on the team coming in as follows: Nate Thompson (32%), Dale Weise (30.77%) and Nicolas Deslauriers (25%).

Nate Thompson redeemed his 5-on-5 play somewhat by logging over three minutes on the penalty-kill. The Canadiens PK unit went 3-for-3 against a woeful Predators power-play.

Montreal matched the performance of the Nashville power-play unit. This is not a good thing as the two worst power-plays in the league met head-to-head. Both teams went 0-for-3 with the man advantage.

Far too many mistakes, a lack of offence from the Habs top lines and a weak power-play helped the Predators end their three game losing streak. The Canadiens now head to Florida to try to put a stop to their own slide.

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Tomas Tatar, Joel Armia

▼  Nicolas Deslauriers, Jonathan Drouin, Phillip Danault, Brendan Gallagher, Mike Reilly, Brett Kulak, Dale Weise, Nate Thompson