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A Night of Firsts | RECAP: MTL @ TBL

Rick Stephens

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

FINAL/OT | Game 32, Away Game 16 | Tuesday December 28, 2021
Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL

CANADIENS

Montreal

4-5

LIGHTNING

Tampa Bay
(Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher

Harvey-Pinard – Ryan Poehling – Cole Caufield

Alex Belzile – Jake Evans – Jesse Ylonen

Michael Pezzetta – Cedric Paquette – Lukas Vejdemo

Defence pairings

Alexander Romanov – David Savard

Brett Kulak – Kale Clague

Corey Schueneman – Sami Niku

Goaltenders

Sam Montembeault – Cayden Primeau

Scratches

Louie Belpedio, Brandon Baddock

Injuries

Joel Armia (undisclosed), Mathieu Perreault (undisclosed), Christian Dvorak (lower-body), Josh Anderson (upper-body), Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

COVID-19 protocol

Jake Allen, Ben Chiarot, Jeff Petry, Joel Edmundson, Chris Wideman, Laurent Dauphin, Mike Hoffman, Artturi Lehkonen, Tyler Toffoli

Taxi squad

Cam Hillis, Gianni Fairbrother, Michael McNiven

Game Report

When the two Stanley Cup finalists met for the first time this season on December 7th at the Bell Centre, the Canadiens looked to be on their way to a rare victory with just over two minutes left in the third period. Then within a span of 1:31, former Canadien Corey Perry tied the score with Ondrej Palat providing the game-winner a short time later.

Tonight, the Canadiens held a one-goal lead in the dying minutes of the contest. And once again, as if following a script, it was Perry tying the game with Palat scoring the winner this time in overtime. The Lightning completely turned the outcome in a space of just 56 seconds, which was all the time they needed to walk away with their 21st victory of the season to further cement their position as the number one team in the NHL.

Without a win, the Canadiens had to be content in celebrating individual achievements. Given the rash of injury and COVID replacements, there were a number of unfamiliar faces in the lineup.

Raphael Harvey-Pinard scored his first NHL goal in his first game. The play was made possible by a brilliant pass from Sami Niku suiting up for just his 10th game this season. On the same goal, defenceman Corey Schueneman picked up an assist for his first NHL point in his first game.

Lukas Vejdemo opened the scoring with his first goal of the season for the Canadiens. Cedric Paquette picked up his first point wearing a CH sweater in his 17th game and David Savard scored his first goal as a Canadien.

Defenceman Kale Clague scored his first NHL goal playing in his 39th game in the big league. Clague was set up by two great individual plays from Ryan Poehling and Cole Caufield.

A head scratcher

Canadiens fans will grumble about officiating after this game but should have equal concern with the curious decisions that continue to be made by the inexperienced head coach. Alex Belzile had the fourth highest ice-time by Canadiens’ forwards on the power-play tonight, more than Brendan Gallagher, Poehling and Jesse Ylonen. Belzile didn’t manage a shot on goal in this game and doesn’t have a goal (nor a power-play point) in his NHL career.

Up Next

The Canadiens will head to Raleigh where they will take on the number two ranked  Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC Arena on Thursday night.

Plus

▲  Alex Romanov, Jesse Ylonen, Sami Niku, Cole Caufield, Ryan Poehling, David Savard, Sam Montembeault

Minus

▼  Brett Kulak, Kale Clague, Cedric Paquette, Nick Suzuki, Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Howdy Stranger | PREVIEW: MTL @ TBL

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   LIGHTNING
31 Shots 32
48 Face-off % 52
0-for-4 Power Play 0-for-4
8 Penalty Minutes 8
34 Hits 37
33 Corsi For 29
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (7-21-4) 1 1 2 0 – 4
Lightning (21-6-4) 2 1 1 1 – 5
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Vejemo (1), Harvey-Pinard (1), Clague (1), Savard (1)
  • TBL: Point (8), Point (9), Colton (3), Perry (7), Palat (10)
  • MTL: Montembeault (OTL) (1-4-2)
  • TBL: Lagace (W) (1-0-0)

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
  1. Brayden Point  TBL
  2. Ondrej Palat  TBL
  3. Maxime Lagace  TBL

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

  • “The difference between victory and defeat is not great in this league. It’s the little things that make the difference, that make you successful.”
  • “With our situation, we have players who find themselves in a position where an opportunity is available to them. The young people came out energetically.”
  • “[Brendan Gallagher] is clearly being pushed towards the goalkeeper. It is certain that if it is not the number 11 behind its back, probably that it is a goal.”

David Savard

  • ” I liked the group’s effort. We worked hard. We never gave up, but it’s disappointing to end the game like this.”

Sam Montembeault

  • “They’ve done this to us twice. The other time, it was at the Bell Centre.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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