Canadiens Lineup

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Joel Armia

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson

Jonathan Drouin – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Paul Byron

Artturi Lehkonen – Eric Staal – Corey Perry

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – Brett Kulak

Carey Price – Jake Allen

None

Michael Frolik, Cayden Primeau, Cole Caufield, Jake Evans, Xavier Ouellet

Brendan Gallagher (hand), Erik Gustafsson (COVID protocol), Jon Merrill (COVID protocol)

Game Report

Call it a collapse? The Canadiens withstood the Oilers onslaught for half of the third period but the outcome was inevitable. Despite holding a 1-0 with 10 minutes left in the third period, the Canadiens allowed four unanswered goals, including three goals in just over three minutes to Connor McDavid and company.

“I’m never afraid to take on two defenders,” said McDavid post-game, describing how he blew between Jeff Petry and Joel Edmundson to score the game-winner. It was another rough outing for the defensive pair who were a combined minus-6 on the night.

After Carey Price had played a solid, shutout first period, Jake Allen came into the game to start the second frame. Price suffered an upper-body injury when Alex Chiasson struck him in the head while skating through the crease. A goal scored on the play was nullified after review. It should be acknowledged that Price stayed in the net for the remaining eight minutes in the period after sustaining the injury.

Allen described his performance as “a chaotic game.” There was little control or technique at work, particularly in the third period. In desperation, Allen was throwing himself at pucks to make initial saves, but was generating numerous rebounds. The Canadiens for their part did a good job getting to the rebounds to win possession or clear the zone.

But spending all that time playing defence took its toll on the Habs ability to spend any time in Edmonton’s zone. After sitting back for half of the third period, Habs couldn’t flip the switch to create offence when the game was tied.

This was a very physical game with a playoff feel. The officials’ whistles were put away for the third period with not a single penalty called. In that type of intense environment, the Canadiens got their best performances from Eric Staal, Artturi Lehkonen and Alexander Romanov.

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