Canucks @ Canadiens: Habs Cruise to Victory | RECAP

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Rick Stephens
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Artturi Lehkonen (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

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

FINAL | Game 9, Home Game 3 | Monday February 1, 2021
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

CANADIENS

Montreal

6-2

CANUCKS

Vancouver
Artturi Lehkonen (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson

Tyler Toffoli – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Corey Perry

Paul Byron – Jake Evans – Artturi Lehkonen

Defence pairings

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – Victor Mete

Goaltenders

Carey Price – Jake Allen

Scratches

Brett Kulak

Taxi Squad

Ryan Poehling, Michael Frolik, Cale Fleury, Charlie Lindgren

Injuries

Joel Armia

Game Report

Habs scoring is back! After a temporary drought against Calgary, the Montreal offence was in top gear again tonight. The Canadiens outskated the Canucks and pressured them all over the ice ending Vancouver’s four game winning streak.

Jeff Petry led the way with two goals and an assist. Nick Suzuki began a new streak with a two-point night. Artturi Lehkonen, playing his 300th NHL game, scored a short-handed goal, the Canadiens sixth of the season, tying the number they recorded in 71 games last season. Lehkonen created a turnover and went in alone on Braden Holtby manufacturing the second Habs goal all on his own.

It was another strong game for the line of Lehkonen with Jake Evans and Paul Byron. And Corey Perry hit a milestone with his 800th career point in his 1049th game.

Carey Price was looking very Roy-like on this night and backstopped the Canadiens to another victory over Vancouver. For those who are preoccupied with early-season statistics, Price made 27 saves on 29 shots for a .931 save percentage. Price remains unbeaten in regulation and now has delivered 10 points in his six starts.

After a bit of grumbling by his agent, Victor Mete entered the lineup for his first action of the season having been a healthy scratch for the first eight games. Mete was over anxious in the first period and had difficulty with positioning throughout the game finishing at minus-2. Alexander Romanov didn’t appear comfortable with the change in dance partner, being guilty of a turnover on the first goal against. 

Up Next

Given that Mete didn’t hit his season debut out of the park, you can expect Brett Kulak back on the blueline with Alexander Romanov for the next game. It’s a quick turnaround as the Canadiens have a return date with Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. 

Plus / Minus

▲ Carey Price, Jeff Petry, Artturi Lehkonen, Nick Suzuki, Tyler Toffoli

▼ Victor Mete, Alexander Romanov, Phillip Danault

Game Preview

If you missed the game preview, you can find it here: Canucks @ Canadiens: Mete In For Habs

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   CANUCKS
40 Shots 29
51 Face-off % 49
1-for-3 Power Play 0-for-3
6 Penalty Minutes 6
26 Hits 30
51 Corsi For 40
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (6-1-2) 3 3 0 – – 6
Canucks (6-6-0) 1 0 1 – – 2
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Suzuki (3), Lehkonen (2)-SHG, Petry (3), Gallagher (4), Petry (4), Toffoli (7)-PPG, 
  • VAN: Gaudette (2), Beagle (1)
  • MTL: Price (W) 4-0-2
  • VAN: Holtby (W) 3-3-0

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
NHL3stars
  1. Jeff Petry  MTL
  2. Nick Suzuki  MTL
  3. Artturi Lehkonen  MTL

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes
Claude Julien
  • “If you consider yourself to be a good team, you want to make sure that you don’t lose two games in a row. I didn’t think we played a bad game on Saturday night, but we didn’t find a way to score. It’s still a loss, though. We had to rebound by finding a way to win. I thought the guys responded well tonight. We played a good game. But, we’re playing them again. They’ll be even hungrier. We’ll be facing a bigger challenge. We have to be ready for that kind of challenge. It’s going to happen a lot this season because we’re always playing the same teams. That’ll likely be our biggest challenge. We have to be ready to face a team that will be better than tonight.”
Jeff Petry
  • “When we lost that game in overtime in Toronto, it was something where we said we don’t want to lose two in a row. It’s important that we have that mindset to make sure that we have a bounce back game. When we did lose, we realized what we needed to improve on from our game against Calgary, and the guys responded well and we played well tonight.”

Jake Evans

  • “When we’re beating these teams, they’re a little frustrated with some of the plays we’re making. That’s just the way we are. We can roll all four lines and all six defensemen, and just keep coming after you. We can just be a very frustrating team to play against. As our team’s set up, it’s going to keep coming and that can really frustrate teams.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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