Canadiens Lineup

Harvey-Pinard – Nick Suzuki – Mike Hoffman

Jonathan Drouin – Kirby Dach – Denis Gurianov

Jesse Ylonen – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher

Michael Pezzetta – Chris Tierney – Alex Belzile

Mike Matheson – David Savard

Joel Edmundson – Justin Barron

Jordan Harris – Johnathan Kovacevic

Sam Montembeault – Jake Allen

Rem Pitlick, Chris Wideman

Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Sean Monahan (lower-body), Juraj Slafkovsky (lower-body), Cole Caufield (shoulder), Arber Xhekaj (upper-body), Joel Armia (illness), Christian Dvorak (lower-body), Kaiden Guhle (lower-body), Josh Anderson (lower-body)

Game Report

This game had some of the hallmarks of a pre-season affair. Patchwork lineups, sprinkled with AHL talent with names like Fix-Wolansky and Belzile, for both sides ensured that the game result would be rather unpredictable.

It was a sloppy start with each team taking advantage of opposition mistakes. The Canadiens scored twice in the first period benefiting from elite shots from the sticks of Mike Hoffman and Jesse Ylonen. The Blue Jackets were able to tie the score after blunders by Joel Edmundson and Sam Montembeault.

But the second period was a completely different story. Playing a back-to-back after an overtime game on Friday, Columbus lost the legs looking quite fatigued. The Canadiens used their speed to score four unanswered goals in the middle frame, three by Rafael Harvey-Pinard.

It was the first NHL hat-trick for the 24-year-old and he accomplished it in a single period.

The Canadiens added two more goals in the third period much to the delight of the Bell Centre fans. It was a party-like atmosphere as the wave circled the building numerous times. Nick Suzuki marked the occasion with the first four-point night of his career.

As the head coach said, the Canadiens “put on a good show tonight.”

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