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‘Playing Heavy’ | RECAP: DET @ MTL

Rick Stephens

GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens vs Detroit Red Wings: Habs, Line-up, Score, Statistics, Highlights, Post-game, Interviews, NHL, Three-Stars

FINAL/OT | Game 49, Home Game 25 | Thursday January 26, 2023
Bell Centre, Montreal, QC

CANADIENS

Montreal

4-3

RED WINGS

Detroit
Kirby Dach, Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Rem Pitlick – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman – Kirby Dach – Jesse Ylonen

Christian Dvorak – Evgenii Dadonov

Michael Pezzetta – Alex Belzile – Harvey-Pinard

Defence pairings

Mike Matheson – David Savard

Joel Edmundson – Justin Barron

Jordan Harris – Arber Xhekaj

Chris Wideman

Goaltenders

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

Scratches

Johnathan Kovacevic

Injuries

Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Sean Monahan (lower-body), Kaiden Guhle (lower-body), Brendan Gallagher (lower-body), Jake Evans (lower-body), Joel Armia (upper-body), Jonathan Drouin (upper-body), Juraj Slafkovsky (lower-body), Cole Caufield (shoulder)

Game Report

In a non-playoff season, fans are best finding other places to focus their attention, other than wins and losses, that is. There is a wonderful story unfolding about the breakout season of the Canadiens No. 77. 

Kirby Dach is emerging as a force down the middle, the likes of Montreal fans have not seen for decades. While Dach padded his point statistics earlier this season, propping up the Suzuki – Caufield line, it has only been the past few weeks where his true potential has been on display.

Since Dach has moved back to centre for an extended duration, he has commanded the middle of the ice, created opportunities for his linemates with his drive and vision, and efficiently executed zone exits and entries. And it all came about when the head coach’s hand was forced by the injury to Jake Evans.

Tonight in addition to a growing chemistry between Dach and the underappreciated Jesse Ylonen, fans were treated to a different side of the 22-year-old centre. Dach dropped the gloves for his second pro fight and won a clear decision over Andrew Copp. It wasn’t done for the adulation but because some scores needed to be settled.

A leadership move.

It may have been entertaining to watch the contributions of the fourth line players tonight. And they deserve their due. But more importantly, fans are being treated to a glimpse the potential of a future star of this team and that should bring them hope. 

Up Next

Up next the Canadiens have a home and home series with the Senators starting in Ottawa on Saturday night.

Plus

▲  Kirby Dach, Jesse Ylonen, Rafael-Harvey Pinard, Arber Xhekaj, Michael Pezzetta

Minus

▼  Rem Pitlick, Josh Anderson, Nick Suzuki, David Savard, Mike Matheson, Chris Wideman

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Allen Returns | PREVIEW: DET @ MTL

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   RED WINGS
23 Shots 42
53 Face-off % 47
0-for-2 Power Play 1-for-2
9 Penalty Minutes 9
28 Hits 25
43 Corsi For 65
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (20-25-4) 1 2 0 0 – 3
Red Wings (21-18-8) 1 2 0 1 – 4
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Pezzetta (3), Harvey-Pinard (2)-SHG, Harvey-Pinard (3)
  • DET: Rasmussen (9), Berggren (8)-PPG, Sundqvist (7), Fabbri (4)
  • MTL: Allen (OTL) (10-16-2)
  • DET: Husso (W) (17-11-5)

Stars of the Game

NHL Three Stars
  1. Robby Fabbri  DET
  2. Rafael Harvey-Pinard  MTL
  3. Moritz Seider  DET

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Kirby Dach

  • “I didn’t like a few of the plays that happened to me in the first, so I was a bit angry, and they didn’t like the way I handled that. It’s business out there – I’m not looking to fight every night, but I’m also not afraid to get in there and play hard, play heavy.”

Marty St. Louis

  • “I didn’t like our first half of the game, but we pushed in the second. I like that our team shows that it can correct things in a game and not only during the season. It’s encouraging.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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