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Bolts Dominate Habs | RECAP: MTL @ TBL

Rick Stephens

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

FINAL | Game 35, Away Game 19 | Wednesday December 28, 2022
Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL

CANADIENS

Montreal

1-4

LIGHTNING

Tampa Bay
Jake Allen, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Joel Armia

Mike Hoffman – Kirby Dach – Jonathan Drouin

Juraj Slafkovsky – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Michael Pezzetta – Jake Evans – Anthony Richard

Defence pairings

Joel Edmundson – Kaiden Guhle

Arber Xhekaj – Johnathan Kovacevic

Jordan Harris – Justin Barron

Goaltenders

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

Scratches

Evgenii Dadonov, Chris Wideman

Injuries

Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Brendan Gallagher (lower-body), David Savard (upper-body), Sean Monahan (lower-body), Mike Matheson (lower-body)

Game Report

Going into this game, the focus was on the Canadiens lineup. After the recall of Justin Barron, Marty St. Louis had chosen to start five rookie defencemen for the first time in the long history of the franchise. It was a bold move against the powerful Tampa Bay Lightning.

The play of the ‘freshmen five’ wasn’t without flaws but more concerning was the voluminous number of turnovers and soft play by the likes of Juraj Slafkovsky, Anthony Richard and Christian Dvorak. Worst of all was the anemic Montreal power-play which went 0-for-5 on the night. The Habs have scored just two goals in their last 37 opportunities with the man advantage.

In 15:37 of icetime, the newly recalled Barron was left off the Montreal power play. It was a curious coaching decision given that Barron leads all defencemen in the AHL with five power-play goals.

Tampa Bay dominated in every aspect of this game. Jake Allen, in the Canadiens’ net, did his best to keep the game close. The Bolts created 11 high-danger scoring chances (5v5) in the second period alone and remarkably finished the game with 22 HDCF.

Kaiden Guhle spoiled what could have been a perfect night for Andrei Vasilevskiy with his second goal of the season.

The Canadiens now have just one win in their last seven contests.

Up Next

Brendan Gallagher skated in a regular jersey at the game day skate on Wednesday. It’s possible that he will return to the lineup on this road trip.

It’s the second half of back-to-back games for the Canadiens in Florida as they take on the Panthers on Thursday night.

Plus

▲  

Minus

▼  Juraj Slafkovsky, Anthony Richard, Jonathan Drouin, Mike Hoffman, Christian Dvorak, Suzuki, Joel Edmundson, Michael Pezzetta, Kirby Dach 

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Five Rookies on D | PREVIEW: MTL @ TBL

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   LIGHTNING
26 Shots 38
39 Face-off % 61
0-for-5 Power Play 1-for-1
9 Penalty Minutes 17
25 Hits 26
33 Corsi For 54
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (15-17-3) 0 0 1 – – 1
Lightning (21-11-1) 2 1 1 – – 4
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Guhle (2)
  • TBL: Killorn (10), Point (18)-PPG, Point (19), Hagel (13)
  • MTL: Allen (L) (9-14-1)
  • TBL: Vasilevskiy (W) (14-9-1)

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
  1. Brayden Point  TBL
  2. Andrei Vasilevskiy  TBL
  3. Victor Hedman  TBL

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Marty St. Louis

  • “It’s a tough team to play against. [..] That’s how you learn. It’s a good experience for our players. [The Lightning] are a good example to follow and we will continue to try to get to that level.”

Kaiden Guhle

  • “It’s not a game where they dominated, but even in a game like this they were good from start to finish. They know no downturns and they profit from your mistakes. That’s what a good team will succeed in doing.”

Nick Suzuki

  • “We are not playing well enough in this aspect of the game. Our power play is awkward at the moment. It hurts because power play failures have an effect on the rest of our game, and it’s the whole offense that breaks down because of it.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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