Canadiens Lineup

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Artturi Lehkonen – Max Domi – Andrew Shaw

Jonathan Drouin – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia

Paul Byron – Nate Thompson – Jordan Weal

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry

Jordie Benn – Christian Folin

Carey Price – Antti Niemi

Charles Hudon, Nicolas Deslauriers, Dale Weise, Matthew Peca, Mike Reilly, Charlie Lindgren

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Game Report

Andrew Shaw said that the Canadiens needed to play with greater urgency. With just 11 games left in the regular season coming into tonight, the time was now.

And to their credit, Shaw with linemates Max Domi and Artturi Lehkonen played with urgency on every shift. They worked hard and created scoring chances. Lehkonen had some of the best quality scoring chances of the night.

Regretfully, too many of the Canadiens interpreted Shaw’s comments differently playing instead with panic. Quantity was prioritized over quality shots and the Habs didn’t do enough to get to abundant rebounds.

There’s no question that both goaltenders, Corey Crawford and Carey Price, played  excellent games but the Canadiens failed to capitalize on their opportunities.

Some panic seems to have crept into the coach’s game as well as he overreacted to perceived mistakes made by his rookie centre. Jesperi Kotkaniemi rarely saw the ice in the third period playing just 7:56 in the game.

Meanwhile, Jonathan Drouin continued to flash his get-out-of-jail-free card coasting to extend his pointless streak. Drouin also made a weak defensive play on Dylan Strome in the second period that led to the game’s opening goal.

The Canadiens have dug a deep hole for themselves as they will likely have to win eight of their final ten games to qualify for the playoffs. With tonight’s loss, the Habs chances of making the playoffs are down to 18.8 percent as estimated by Sports Club Stats.

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Artturi Lehkonen, Jordan Weal, Andrew Shaw

▼  Jonathan Drouin, Brendan Gallagher, Phillip Danault, Brett Kulak