Canadiens @ Senators: Flat From the Start | HABS RECAP

By
Rick Stephens
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1
52
Jake Allen
Jake Allen (Photo by André Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

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

FINAL | Game 52, Away Game 26 | Wednesday May 5, 2021
Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, QC

CANADIENS

Montreal

1-5

SENATORS

Ottawa
Jake Allen (Photo by André Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Joel Armia

Cole Caufield – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Jake Evans

Michael Frolik – Eric Staal – Corey Perry

Defence pairings

Brett Kulak – Ben Chiarot

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – Jon Merrill

Goaltenders

Jake Allen – Cayden Primeau

Scratches

Erik Gustafsson

Taxi Squad

Xavier Ouellet, Charlie Lindgren, Michael Pezzetta, Joel Teasdale, Alex Belzile

Injuries

Brendan Gallagher (hand), Carey Price (concussion), Paul Byron (lower-body), Jonathan Drouin (undisclosed), Tomas Tatar (lower-body), Shea Weber (upper-body)

Game Report

We have heard the excitement and hype. The Canadiens had won three games in a row. They were tied for third in the division. And they were in control of their fate.

With all of these factors in their favor, how did the Habs deliver such a stinker of a game? Now some will run and hide behind the silly scheduling excuse. This has been a challenging season for a number of reasons including a condensed schedule. And those challenges extend to other teams well beyond the Canadiens.

Working to combat the effects of an energy-zapping schedule involves managing a roster and managing a lineup to ensure that fresh legs are available. Marc Bergevin made a difficult situation worse at the trade deadline and Dominique Ducharme has not made smart use of the few substitutes he has had at his fingertips.

But more importantly, if a head coach (even an interim one) is concerned about energy levels of his players, he would ensure that the team is well-prepared, and will start each game strong. That way the Canadiens would be in the best position possible to score first. Because what’s more energy draining than trailing early and chasing the game for three periods?

The Canadiens have not had a good start in many games. Tonight, it took 40 minutes to record two high-danger scoring chances finishing the game with just fine in total.

Up Next

The Canadiens finish the week with two games against the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

Plus

▲  

Minus

▼  Phillip Danault, Cole Caufield, Jeff Petry, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jon Merrill, Ben Chiarot, Josh Anderson, Jake Allen

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Canadiens @ Senators: Positive Vibes

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   SENATORS
31 Shots 34
45 Face-off % 55
0-for-1 Power Play 0-for-2
6 Penalty Minutes 4
31 Hits 37
59 Corsi For 45
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (24-19-9) 1 0 0 – – 1
Senators (21-27-5) 1 2 2 – – 5
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Edmundson (3)
  • OTT: Pinto (1), Tkachuk (17), Paul (5), Brown (19), Formenton (4)
  • MTL: Allen (L) 11-11-4
  • OTT: Forsberg (W) 3-3-1

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
NHL3stars
  1. Erik Brannstrom  OTT
  2. Nick Paul  OTT
  3. Anton Forsberg  OTT

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

  • “We definitely want to score first every night. I don’t think we’ve had bad starts recently. We were just bad tonight. We weren’t good from start to finish tonight.”

Jeff Petry

  • “Our starts have to be better. They haven’t been good enough lately. We’ve shown our character by battling back, but it’d be nice to play with the lead. Then, just our compete on a nightly basis. We have to make sure that we’re ready to show up, win our battles, make sure we’re doing the right things, not letting guys jump by us and things like that. “

Joel Edmundson

  • “No. There’s no reason not to feel good out there. I just think our compete level wasn’t there. We were getting beat off pucks all night and they took advantage of it. It was one of those nights where we weren’t there, but we have a quick turnaround in Toronto and we’re looking forward to that.”
  • “We just have to get to our game before they get to theirs. It would be nice to get the first goal, but we’ve battled back in games the past couple of weeks where we’ve been down by two goals. It would be nice to get the first one and come out hot. I think it just starts with getting pucks deep, doing the simple things and winning those battles down low.”

Josh Anderson

  • “We were flat from the start to the finish of the game and we just couldn’t find our energy and get up to that level. Obviously, you’ve got to give them credit. They worked hard, they reloaded, they were hunting pucks and they were the better team tonight. They deserved to win.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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1 COMMENT

  1. salut bien mon ami rick
    holy smoke,
    ne pas la bonne manniere a amorcer les matchs ultime
    mais il faut donner credit au sens!!!
    ils jouent fort et emotif et discipliner.c’est la coupe stanley a chaque reprise contre-nous!!!ils merittent les 2 points.point a la ligne.
    moises,en quelques annees watch-out!ils seront-la.
    a mon avis,pour les matchs qui nous en reste,
    jouez les jeunes,les taxi un p’tit peu.
    4ieme ou 3ieme place fait-rien.ca va etre difficille parreille contre l’adverssairre
    quiqonque.
    donnez la pause au veterans pour s’en recuperer/regagner les forces
    et allez avec les taxi et les jeunes.rest the vets.play the kids.
    donnez la chance a charlie lindgren a jouer un p’tit peu!!!ainsi les autres jouers qui n’ont pas eu le temps du glace jusqu’a maintenant.
    souvenez-vous la fin saison du 93?ne pas trop impressionnante.mais,,,,,
    il faut garder l’espoir et la solidarite d’equipe.nulle autre club pourrait s’enlever ca de nous.toronto nous attends pour les deux prochaines matchs.allez-y!
    merci de nouveau rick pour le post-game,infos/analises
    vous etes tres accrues avec tes assertations.
    portez-vous bien
    ps,pourquoi le “north division” et ne pas “le division canadien”???
    trop traumatique pour la siege sociale a new-york a digirer?
    guyCH10 soit present et proche en prieres et pensees

Comments are closed.