Canadiens Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield

 Tyler Toffoli – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Jonathan Drouin – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher

Michael Pezzetta – Ryan Poehling – Joel Armia

Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – David Savard

Mattias Norlinder – Sami Niku

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

Cedric Paquette

Chris Wideman (upper-body), Joel Edmundson lower-body), Brett Kulak (lower-body), Mike Hoffman (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (eye),  (undisclosed), Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Game Report

There were two games involving the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night happening almost simultaneously. The game on the ice at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh turned out to be a very entertaining match for Habs fans. Off the ice, the winds of change have finally begun with respect to management of the organization.

With the Canadiens having won just once on the road in 11 games coming into this game, perhaps it shouldn’t have been a surprise to see the Penguins start their backup netminder. Casey entered the contest without a win this season and that’s how he exited this game. 

Last we saw Josh Anderson, he was a frustrated player without any answers at the post-game media availability in Buffalo. But in this game Anderson was everywhere. In 18:17 of ice-time, Anderson had an assist, six shots on goal, three blocked shots, two hits and was the recipient of two empty-net goals.

Jake Allen quickly learned that the Pittsburgh Penguins are a team that shoots from anywhere on the ice. Allen made a career high 47 saves in a much better effort since his return from a concussion. Volume, not necessarily degree of difficulty was the key for Allen — in the final 40 minutes of tonight’s game Pittsburgh had 25 shots on goal (5 vs 5) but only four high danger scoring chances.

All in all, it was an entertaining win for the fans but should not be confused with a recipe for continued success.

Administrative changes in motion

In other action, it was reported that the Canadiens had requested and received permission from the New York Rangers to speak with their former general manager Jeff Gorton. According to Elliotte Friedman, Gorton is not under consideration for the position of general manager but another position such as President of Hockey Operations.

In addition, assistant manager Scott Mellanby has confirmed that he resigned from the Canadiens on Saturday. Pierre Lebrun reported that Mellanby was involved in “extensive talks with Habs owner Geoff Molson” to become the Canadiens new general manager. Mellanby was recommended by Marc Bergevin.

Discussions between Molson and Mellanby then started to focus in on his suitability for the position of President of Hockey Operations. But on Friday, Molson informed Mellanby that he was no longer under consideration for any advancement. That precipitated Mellanby’s departure from the Canadiens.

Finally, it was reported that Bergevin was taken by surprise by Molson’s decision and Mellanby’s exit. Fans can expect this story to continue to evolve on Sunday.

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