Canadiens @ Oilers: Overwhelmed by McDavid | HABS RECAP

By
Rick Stephens
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(Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

Montreal Canadiens vs Edmonton Oilers Game Recap: Habs Line-up, Score, Statistics, Highlights, Post-game Interviews, NHL Three-Stars

FINAL | Game 43, Away Game 21 | Monday April 19, 2021
Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB

CANADIENS

Montreal

1-4

OILERS

Edmonton
(Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Joel Armia

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson

Jonathan Drouin – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Paul Byron

Artturi Lehkonen – Eric Staal – Corey Perry

Defence pairings

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – Brett Kulak

Goaltenders

Carey Price – Jake Allen

Scratches

None

Taxi Squad

Michael Frolik, Cayden Primeau, Cole Caufield, Jake Evans, Xavier Ouellet

Injuries

Brendan Gallagher (hand), Erik Gustafsson (COVID protocol), Jon Merrill (COVID protocol)

Game Report

Call it a collapse? The Canadiens withstood the Oilers onslaught for half of the third period but the outcome was inevitable. Despite holding a 1-0 with 10 minutes left in the third period, the Canadiens allowed four unanswered goals, including three goals in just over three minutes to Connor McDavid and company.

“I’m never afraid to take on two defenders,” said McDavid post-game, describing how he blew between Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson to score the game-winner. It was another rough outing for the defensive pair who were a combined minus-6 on the night.

After Carey Price had played a solid, shutout first period, Jake Allen came into the game to start the second frame. Price suffered an upper-body injury when Alex Chiasson struck him in the head while skating through the crease. A goal scored on the play was nullified after review. It should be acknowledged that Price stayed in the net for the remaining eight minutes in the period after sustaining the injury.

Allen described his performance as “a chaotic game.” There was little control or technique at work, particularly in the third period. In desperation, Allen was throwing himself at pucks to make initial saves, but was generating numerous rebounds. The Canadiens for their part did a good job getting to the rebounds to win possession or clear the zone.

But spending all that time playing defence took its toll on the Habs ability to spend any time in Edmonton’s zone. After sitting back for half of the third period, Habs couldn’t flip the switch to create offence when the game was tied.

This was a very physical game with a playoff feel. The officials’ whistles were put away for the third period with not a single penalty called. In that type of intense environment, the Canadiens got their best performances from Eric Staal, Artturi Lehkonen and Alexander Romanov.

Up Next

The Canadiens trail the Oilers by nine points with one game in hand. At 4-7-0, the Habs have the fifth worst record in April in the NHL. The second game of the Montreal – Edmonton series is scheduled for Wednesday night.

Plus

▲  Alexander Romanov, Artturi Lehkonen, Eric Staal

Minus

▼  Jeff Petry, Joel Edmundson, Jonathan Drouin, Paul Byron, Phillip Danault

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Canadiens @ Oilers: Habs Begin Road Trip

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   OILERS
23 Shots 36
47 Face-off % 53
0-for-2 Power Play 0-for-4
8 Penalty Minutes 4
28 Hits 39
42 Corsi For 46
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (19-15-9) 0 1 0 – – 1
Oilers (27-15-2) 0 0 4 – – 4
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Staal (5)
  • EDM: Bear (1), McDavid (24), Puljujarvi (11), Shore (5)
  • MTL: Price, Allen (L) 7-8-4
  • EDM: Smith (W) 16-4-2

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
NHL3stars
  1. Connor McDavid  EDM
  2. Jesse Puljujarvi  EDM
  3. Ethan Bear  EDM

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

  • “I liked our game, especially during the first two periods. I found that we lacked energy in the third and we didn’t put on enough pressure. We did good work against their defensemen and we had more time in their zone. In the third period, every time we broke out of our zone, we were coming to the bench and changing and they were heading back our way. They definitely pushed at the end.”

Jeff Petry

  • “We gave him a chance to get the speed. We didn’t control the puck very well there in the neutral zone and gave him a chance to wind it up. When he’s got that much speed and we’re following the play up, it’s tough to get the feet moving backwards. I was trying to come in from the side, just to get my stick on the puck, and missed him. He was able to pull it out and shoot.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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1 COMMENT

  1. I INCREASINGLY QUESTION IF DUCHARME CAN COACH THIS TEAM. ALMOST EVERY GAME NOW I AM WONDERING WHY HE CHANGED THIS LINE OR THAT LINE, HELLO MICHEL THERIEN , OR WHY HE OVERPLAYS WEBBER OR SITS TATAR FOR AN ERROR WEBER MAKES EVERY PERIOD OR PLAYS PRICE TOO EARLY OR GIVES NO GAME TIME TO PRIMEAU OR SITS ON A ONE GOAL LEAD AGAINST THE MOST DYNAMIC GOAL SCORING DUO IN THE NHL…..I KNOW HE CANNOT GET ON THE ICE BUT HIS STEATEGY IS NOT WORKING AND HE DOES NOT CHANGE

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