Canadiens Lineup

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson

Tyler Toffoli – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Corey Perry

Paul Byron – Jake Evans – Artturi Lehkonen

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Alexander Romanov

Jake Allen – Carey Price

Victor Mete

Ryan Poehling, Michael Frolik, Cale Fleury, Charlie Lindgren

Joel Armia

Game Report

All week in practice and at the media platform, Claude Julien was preaching that his team needed to be better on the defensive side of their game. Julien said that the Canadiens were fortunate that they were outscoring their opponents.

The inference: scoring was coming easy for the Habs but what would happen when the opposition made adjustments and the goals dried up?

In truth, tonight’s defensive effort by the Canadiens was vastly improved. While Jake Allen made the saves he needed to, it was a relatively light night for him facing just one high-danger scoring chance in 5-on-5 play for the first 40 minutes of the game. High-danger scoring chances (5-on-5) ended up 17-4 overall for Montreal.

But Julien was not happy with his team’s effort in the offensive zone tonight. Rebounds from Jacob Markstrom were plentiful, and the coach felt his troops didn’t do enough to be in position for second-chance scoring opportunities, particularly while on the power-play.

Habs Forwards Miss Time

Two Canadiens forwards who have been driving to the net on a consistent basis are Josh Anderson and Jesperi Kotkaniemi. Anderson had just 6:06 of ice-time in the match. Post-game, Julien revealed that Anderson had flu-like symptoms and was sent home mid-game out of an abundance of caution. Anderson tested negative for COVID-19.

Kotkaniemi suffered a blindside hit directly to the head midway through the second period courtesy of Flames centre Dillon Dube and, though he stayed in the game (after returning from NHL concussion protocol), the 20-year-old didn’t quite seem right afterwards. Dube was not penalized for the dangerous hit.

Keep in mind that Kotkaniemi has already missed playing time in his young career due to a concussion. Kotkaniemi was sidelined for three weeks on December 5, 2019 when he was hit by Avalanche defenceman Nikita Zadorov. Expect the Canadiens to send the tape to the NHL Department of Player Safety seeking supplementary discipline for Dube.

Without two key offensive players, and with Markstrom playing well in the Calgary net, the Canadiens could ill-afford to be reckless with prime scoring chances. In the second period, Phillip Danault squandered a shorthanded 3-on-1 rush firing the puck well high and wide. Danault is currently third on the team’s depth chart for centres and could be in danger of falling further as Jake Evans has usurped Danault’s role as a primary penalty-killer.

Tyler Toffoli was called on to do double-duty tonight logging a whopping 22:08 of ice-time. Nick Suzuki’s point streak came to a halt at seven games. 

Up Next

The Canadiens now must get ready for a busy week starting with a visit to the Bell Centre from the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and Tuesday nights. 

Plus / Minus

▲ Jake Allen, Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans, Artturi Lehkonen, Shea Weber, Ben Chiarot, Alexander Romanov

▼ Phillip Danault

Game Preview