Oilers @ Canadiens: Playoffs Despite Loss | HABS RECAP

By
Rick Stephens
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1
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Jake Evans
Jake Evans (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

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

FINAL/OT | Game 55, Home Game 27 | Monday May 10, 2021
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

CANADIENS

Montreal

3-4

OILERS

Edmonton
Jake Evans (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Joel Armia

Tomas Tatar – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Josh Anderson

Paul Byron – Jake Evans – Artturi Lehkonen

Corey Perry – Eric Staal – Cole Caufield

Defence pairings

Brett Kulak – Ben Chiarot

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – Jon Merrill

Goaltenders

Jake Allen – Cayden Primeau

Scratches

Erik Gustafsson, Alex Belzile

Taxi Squad

Michael Frolik, Joseph Blandisi, Charlie Lindgren, Michael Pezzetta, Joel Teasdale

Injuries

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

Game Report

Habs Twitter is an odd place at the best of times, but it’s become a little more peculiar lately. There has been a lot of cheering for losses — cheering for the Jets, Flames and Canucks to lose — and plenty of confusion when those teams play each other. ‘Who do we want to lose more?,’ is a question that has appeared regularly on social media.

Tonight, as Habs fans were celebrating after watching their team lose in overtime to the Oilers, a blue check marked account tweeted:

“We lost tonight but we somehow… won? Habs will make the series! I’ll never understand Hockey.”

Yes, by virtue of a single point, the Canadiens have stumbled into the 2021 NHL playoffs despite falling victim to Connor McDavid in extra time. ‘Stumbled’ is not too harsh a word, as Montreal has lost four straight games and hasn’t won in regulation since April 30th, yet they locked up the last playoff position in the North division.

With the Oilers having nothing to play for, tonight’s game was a rather awkward dance. Goaltenders Mikko Koskinen and Jake Allen seemed determined to outdo each other  making ill-advised excursions out of the blue paint and giving up juicy rebounds.

But it was the Canadiens third line that was charged with the responsibility of shadowing Connor McDavid and his line. While Jake Evans, Artturi Lehkonen and Paul Byron were doing an effective job defensively on McDavid, they decided to supply the offence as well. The trio scored all three Montreal goals and collectively recorded eight points.

Evans and Lehkonen led the way with a goal and two assists each.

So Marc Bergevin has assembled a team that barely qualified for the playoffs under the special circumstances of a pandemic for the second season in a row. At the start of the season, when the general manager proudly crowed about his high expectations for his team, is this what you have in mind? No, me neither.

Up Next

The Canadiens will practice at 11:30 am. on Tuesday at Brossard. The Habs will play their final game of the regular season at home against the Edmonton Oilers on  Wednesday.

Plus

▲  Jake Evans, Artturi Lehkonen, Paul Byron, Joel Edmundson, Jeff Petry

Minus

▼  John Merrill, Tomas Tatar, Alexander Romanov, Josh Anderson, Corey Perry

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Oilers @ Canadiens: Another Chance to Clinch

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   OILERS
28 Shots 35
37 Face-off % 63
0-for-2 Power Play 0-for-1
2 Penalty Minutes 4
21 Hits 24
52 Corsi For 47
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (24-21-10) 1 1 1 0 – 3
Oilers (34-18-2) 2 1 0 1 – 4
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Evans (3), Byron (5), Lehkonen (7)
  • EDM: Neal (5), Nugent-Hopkins (15),  Kahun (8), McDavid (33)
  • MTL: Allen (OTL) 11-12-5
  • EDM: Koskinen (W) 13-12-0

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
NHL3stars
  1. Jake Evans  MTL
  2. Paul Byron  MTL
  3. Artturi Lehkonen  MTL

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

  • “That was our objective. We said that. Once you’re in the playoffs, you have a chance to win. That’s what we want to do. It’s a good feeling to overcome obstacles and qualify. It was important.”

Jake Evans

  • “I think all three of us were pretty excited for the challenge. Our line has worked well together in the past. We like our speed, our grit and how hard we are on the forecheck. To get that opportunity, I was excited. I wasn’t nervous. I love those opportunities and I hope they keep coming.”

Artturi Lehkonen

  • “We played together for a while, and the longer you play with guys, you build chemistry with them. All of us are pretty fast skaters, so we try to use our speed to our advantage and try to create stuff in the offensive zone and try to get into rushes.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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1 COMMENT

  1. salut -bien rick
    merci pour les notes,
    observations?
    jake evans is my guy!!!diamond in the grass eh
    playoffs/series?accept the gift.
    we arrived via mediocraty.can we finish with merit et dignity?
    take the undeserving reward and thank our “CH esprits-saints” with exemplary play!!! despite it all,we have a chance for Lord Stanley once-more!!!
    what we lack in skill/talent,we need to make up with other ways:
    leadership,teamwork,more leadership et an uncompromising “ethique du travail” will-power!!!and of course a little bit of good fortune et providence from our glorious past.
    merci de nouveau pour le post-game/infos/analises
    portez-vous bien
    ps,as one colleague said to another,once upon a time.”let’s take this mediocraty and turn it into something speciale,eh !!!”.
    cheers,
    guy soit toujours proche et present en prieres et pensees,

Comments are closed.