Canadiens Lineup

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield

Jake Evans – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Paul Byron – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Josh Anderson

Joel Armia – Eric Staal – Corey Perry

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Erik Gustafsson 

Carey Price – Jake Allen

Tomas Tatar, Michael Frolik, Alexander Romanov, Charlie Lindgren

Alex Belzile, Laurent Dauphin, Lukas Vejdemo, Jesse Ylonen, Cale Fleury, Otto Leskinen, Xavier Ouellet, Cayden Primeau, Michael McNiven

Jonathan Drouin (undisclosed), Jon Merrill (undisclosed), Artturi Lehkonen (undisclosed)

Game Report

The Montreal Canadiens are moving on to the second round of the 2021 NHL playoffs leaving the majority of fans in the Golden Horseshoe absolutely bewildered. How could this happen (again)?

The hockey world is equally stunned, comparing this result to the Blue Jackets sweep of the Lightning in 2019. The media, analytics models and Vegas all had The Maple Leafs easily dispatching the Canadiens in their quest for a Stanley Cup.

To be fair, the reaction is understandable given that the Canadiens had stumbled into the post-season losing five straight games and finishing 18th overall in the standings. The Leafs had won seven of their last ten games and were loaded with talent including the reigning Rocket Richard winner. And head-to-head, Toronto had won seven of ten  games against the Habs in the regular season.

On paper, the Leafs were the superior team but the Canadiens had the best player on the ice in all seven games. And he made the difference in the series. 

His name is Carey Price.

It’s impossible to overstate Price’s role in producing on of the most shocking upsets of the decade. The Maple Leafs dominated the Canadiens in possession, shots, scoring chances, high-danger scoring chances and expected goals. Montreal scored just 14 goals in the seven game series.

It’s tempting to suggest that Canadiens forwards shut down the Leafs top line but that was not the case. Toronto’s Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and Zach Hyman combined for 370 shot attempts, 209 scoring chances, 81 high-danger scoring chances but just two goals in the series from the trio. That’s outstanding goaltending.

Could it be karma that No. 31 faced 31 shots tonight in leading the Canadiens to a 3-1 win on May 31st?

Now the Price has carried the Canadiens to the second round, the team will have to step up their effort to face the Winnipeg Jets, who are undefeated in the playoffs. Montreal will need much more from Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher, Tyler Toffoli, Phillip Danault and Jeff Petry if they hope to get past the Winnipeg Jets.

And Dominique Ducharme will need to find a way to rotate Alexander Romanov into the lineup to help the battered and fatigued defence.

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▼  Josh Anderson, Brett Kulak, Paul Byron, Joel Edmundson, Nick Suzuki

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