Oilers @ Canadiens: Price, Habs Earn Shutout Win | RECAP

Rick Stephens

March 30, 2021

Oilers @ Canadiens: Price, Habs Earn Shutout Win | RECAP — Paul Byron, Artturi Lehkonen (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 | Game 32, Home Game 14 | Thursday March 30, 2021

Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

CANADIENS

Montreal

4-0

OILERS

Edmonton

Paul Byron, Artturi Lehkonen (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Paul Byron – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Artturi Lehkonen

Michael Frolik – Jake Evans – Corey Perry

Defence pairings

Joel Edmundson – Shea Weber

Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – Victor Mete

Goaltenders

Carey Price – Jake Allen

Scratches

Taxi Squad

Laurent Dauphin, Gustav Olofsson, Xavier Ouellet, Charlie Lindgren

Injuries

Ben Chiarot (hand), Tyler Toffoli (lower-body), Joel Armia (COVID protocol)

Game Report

It was hard to predict which version of the Canadiens would turn up after being sidelined for 10 days. The team didn’t leave us wondering for long. Just 18 seconds after the drop of the puck, Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his fifth goal of the season.

And three minutes later, it was Artturi Lehkonen going to the net to pick up his third goal of the season. The script couldn’t have been written more perfectly. From there, the Canadiens took away the neutral zone, shadowed Connor McDavid and opportunistically added some insurance.

This was an important start to a challenging 43-day period for the Canadiens where they will play 25 games. Montreal took advantage of the rest while staying mentally sharp. “crisp” was the buzzword being used by players in the post-game media availability.

Up Next

The Canadiens now have a home-and-home series with the Senators followed by a rematch at the Bell Centre with the Oilers.

Plus

▲ Carey Price, Artturi Lehkonen, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Brendan Gallagher, Shea Weber

Minus

▼ Michael Frolik, Jonathan Drouin

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Oilers @ Canadiens: Habs Return to the Ice

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS		OILERS
32	Shots	17
49	Face-off %	51
0-for-4	Power Play	0-for-3
11	Penalty Minutes	13
23	Hits	33
49	Corsi For	25

Scoring Summary

FINAL	1	2	3	OT	SO	T
Canadiens (15-8-9)	3	1	0	–	–	4
Oilers (22-14-1)	0	0	0	–	–	0

Scorers	Goalies
MTL: Kotkaniemi (5), Lehkonen (3), Gallagher (13), Tatar (7) EDM: no scoring	MTL: Price (W) 11-5-5 EDM: Koskinen (L) 9-11-0

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
	Phillip Danault MTL Tomas Tatar MTL Paul Byron MTL

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

“We had a good start. It’s always good to score early. I liked our game from start to finish.”
“I definitely expected us to start the game with a lot of energy. Since we were skating well, we had an extra fraction of a second to make plays. We gained confidence quickly. I was pleasantly surprised. The guys were well prepared and ready to play. We had energy and we skated well.”

Paul Byron

“We skated very well. We took away his time and space. [Jesperi Kotkaniemi]’s development is incredible. He played a very good game at both ends of the ice. It’s also easy to play with Artturi (Lehkonen). We did good work as a line tonight. It was fun to play that way.”

Shea Weber

“We knew we were going to have energy. Obviously, rest is key, especially in a season like this where it’s tough to get rest since you’re playing every second night. That’s the way it’s going to be for the rest of the season, plus back-to-back, so we knew we were going to be fresh, but we just harped on the little things. We wanted to keep it simple, especially early on, trying to get back into it.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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