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Oilers @ Canadiens: Regular Season Finale Loss | HABS RECAP

Rick Stephens

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

FINAL/OT | Game 56, Home Game 28 | Wednesday May 12, 2021
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

CANADIENS

Montreal

3-4

OILERS

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

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Joel Armia – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield

Tomas Tatar – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Corey Perry

Paul Byron – Jake Evans – Artturi Lehkonen

Alex Belzile – Michael Frolik – Jesse Ylonen

Defence pairings

Brett Kulak – Ben Chiarot

Alexander Romanov – Xavier Ouellet

Erik Gustafsson – Jon Merrill

Goaltenders

Cayden Primeau – Charlie Lindgren

Scratches

Tyler Toffoli, Joel Edmundson, Jeff Petry, Josh Anderson, Eric Staal, Jake Allen 

Taxi Squad

Joseph Blandisi, Michael Pezzetta, Joel Teasdale

Injuries

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

Game Report

The Canadiens iced an unusual lineup to say the least. TSN broadcaster Gord Miller tweeted: “Not sure Montreal’s lineup tonight would be legal for a pre-season game.” The cumulative salary for tonight’s players totaled less than half of the NHL salary cap floor.

That’s all to say that it’s difficult to draw conclusions from this game. On the Oilers side, they mostly dressed regulars but the performance level was that line on the stove dial that sits between OFF and SIMMER.

In 60:27 of play, Edmonton registered just four high-danger scoring chances. That’s typically an average period for Connor McDavid alone.

But it was the goalies that made this game interesting. Mike Smith was going through the motions and let in a couple of softies. For Cayden Primeau, the nightmare  continued as he finished 2020-21 without a strong NHL start in four attempts.

Nick Suzuki scored twice, including his first shorthanded goal in the NHL, to reach the 15-goal plateau. That is a 22-goal pace over 82 games which puts him in great position to make the jump to the 30-goal ballpark next season.

Jesse Ylonen didn’t look out of place making his NHL debut with 11:23 in icetime. Ylonen had been a very poised player in Laval this season and could challenge for a roster spot at Canadiens training camp in the Fall.

The Canadiens backed into the playoffs with a five-game losing streak to end the season. An 18th place finish is very disappointing given the lofty expectations set by Marc Bergevin. For perspective, the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers both finished the season with more wins than Montreal but both missed post-season play by virtue of being in a stronger division.

And despite the off-season changes, Montreal finished the season with a worse winning record this year in 56 games (24-21-11) than last season after the 56 game mark (26-23-7).

Up Next

The Canadiens will have days off and valuable practice time for the coaching staff to get the team ready for the first round playoff matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Plus

▲  Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Joel Armia, Alexander Romanov

Minus

▼  Cayden Primeau, Michael Frolik, Alex Belzile, Brett Kulak

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Oilers @ Canadiens: NHL Debut for Ylonen

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   OILERS
29 Shots 22
61 Face-off % 39
0-for-1 Power Play 2-for-3
6 Penalty Minutes 2
20 Hits 26
49 Corsi For 31
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (24-21-11) 2 0 1 0 – 3
Oilers (35-18-2) 2 1 0 1 – 4
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Caufield (4), Suzuki (14)-SHG, Suzuki (15)
  • EDM: Chiasson (9), Nugent-Hopkins (16)-PPG, Draisaitl (31)-PPG, Kahun (9)
  • MTL: Primeau (OTL) 1-2-1
  • EDM: Smith (W) 21-6-2

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
  1. Nick Suzuki  MTL
  2. Cole Caufield  MTL
  3. Leon Draisaitl  EDM

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

  • “There were a lot of ups and downs. We knew that the stretch after the COVID-19 pause would be difficult. We overcame it. It’s over. We have time to recharge the batteries and prepare for Game 1.”

Nick Suzuki

  • “We’re a resilient group. Even when guys got injured, we had guys step up in big ways. That’s how good I think our team is. Given the depth that we have, guys can fill spots and play bigger roles, like you saw tonight. We gave them a really good game with not a lot of regulars in the lineup. We’ve got depth on the team. We learned what it takes to win in back-to-back games and we had a lot of good efforts from everybody down the stretch.”

Ben Chiarot

  • “The guys in the room, the character that’s in the room. I know that when we’re going, when we’re on our game, we’re a tough team to beat. I know that everyone in there is judging off of last year and the way we played in the bubble, but I’m pretty confident moving forward we’ll see guys bring their ‘A’ game for the playoffs.”

Jesse Ylonen

  • “It was really, really exciting. I was a little bit nervous before the game, but it was fun. It was a good experience.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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