Canadiens Lineup

Mike Hoffman – Nick Suzuki – Brendan Gallagher

Artturi Lehkonen – Rem Pitlick – Cole Caufield

Paul Byron – Jake Evans – Joel Armia

Michael Pezzetta – Laurent Dauphin – Mathieu Perreault

Alexander Romanov – Brett Kulak 

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Corey Schueneman – Chris Wideman

Sam Montembeault – Cayden Primeau

Ben Chiarot, Jesse Ylonen

Ryan Poehling (upper-body), Josh Anderson (lower-body), Kale Clague (upper-body), Andrew Hammond (lower-body), Tyler Pitlick (undisclosed), Christian Dvorak (upper-body), David Savard (ankle), Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Jake Allen (lower-body), Carey Price (knee), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

none

Game Report

Over 60 minutes, the Montreal Canadiens dominated this game. Shots on goal were 39-19 for the home team. Shot attempts demonstrated even a wider disparity in play with the Habs having a 61-27 advantage.

But bad starts are notoriously difficult to overcome. And this was definitely a horrible start.

The Canadiens opened a six-game home stand by falling behind by two goals to the Coyotes before the game was four minutes old. By the end of the first period it was 4-0 and the Canadiens had dug a hole that was too deep to climb out.

There were mistakes in front of him but it was a dreadful night for Sam Montembeault. The 25-year-old goaltender gave up four goals on just seven shots in the first period. Cayden Primeau replaced Montembeault to begin the second period.

The three goalies featured in this game would each feel more comfortable at the minor league level.

Cole Caufield gave the Bell Centre fans reason to cheer scoring twice in eight seconds in the second period. That is the third-fastest two goals in Canadiens history, a mark that ties Caufield with Rocket Richard.

It was also an important night for Alexander Romanov.

Management decided to sit Ben Chiarot for this game to protect their trade asset. That provided an opportunity for Romanov to record a career-high 23:58 of ice time. Shots attempts were 31-9 for the Canadiens with Romanov on the ice in 5v5 play.

Up Next

The Canadiens continue their homestand by hosting the Dallas Stars on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.

Plus

Minus

Game Preview