Canadiens Lineup

Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Tyler Toffoli

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia

Paul Byron – Jake Evans – Corey Perry

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Alexander Romanov

Jake Allen – Carey Price

Victor Mete

Cam Hillis, Hayden Verbeek, Michael Frolik, Charlie Lindgren

Josh Anderson

Game Report

Will the Montreal Canadiens ever win in extra time? The Habs have lost six straight games that went beyond 60 minutes this season.

Now, the answer to the question is, yes, they will. But for now, Montreal would be wise to take care of business before the expiration of the third period.

The Canadiens are taking baby steps towards implementing Dom Ducharme’s new system. Plug a geyser on one side of the boat but up springs another leak. Mistakes were an issue again tonight.

Ducharme has helped his team play a tighter defensive game, no question. But the Canadiens, even when they maintain possession for extended offensive zone time, are still having difficulty generating quality shots. The heat map shows shots on goal primarily from the perimeter, almost indistinguishable from a Claude Julien-coached team.

It’s clear that the Habs are missing Josh Anderson and his drive-to-the-goal style of game. But Marc Bergevin promised that the Canadiens would have the depth to withstand injuries this season. And as he emphatically said in his press conference, injuries have not been an issue this season.

The good news is that special teams seems to be headed in the right direction. The penalty-kill was perfect once again and the power-play has scored four times in eight opportunities since the coaching change.

Up Next

The Canadiens can’t take too much comfort in a moral victory of playing well. In the condensed season, they must start seeing results to maintain their hold on a playoff spot.

And Montreal remains winless when wearing the reverse retro jerseys in four games.

Expect Carey Price to be back between the pipes on Saturday night. Jake Allen has played reasonably well but has not posted a win since February 6th, having lost his last four starts.

Montreal will have a day off on Friday. The two teams will meet again at the Bell Centre on Saturday with a 7:00 ET start. 

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