CANADIENS
Montreal

7-5

CANUCKS
Vancouver

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Drouin – Byron
Galchenyuk – Danault – Shaw
Hudon – Plekanec – Gallagher
Deslauriers – Froese – Carr
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Benn – Petry
Alzner – Jerabek
Morrow – Schlemko
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Niemi

Scratches

Jacob De La Rose

Injuries

Ales Hemsky – concussion, Al Montoya – concussion, Artturi Lehkonen – lower-body, Shea Weber – lower-body

Game Report

Post-game, there was a lot of chatter about the success of the Canadiens fourth line. With two goals Nicolas Deslauriers was named the game’s second star but the heavy-lifting was done by linemates Daniel Carr and Byron Froese. Carr has been the catalyst for this line since his recall from Laval.

There was also reason for Canadiens fans to celebrate seeing Max Pacioretty with two assists and several additional scoring chances. And Alex Galchenyuk providing the game-winner scoring in a fashion only possible by a very skilled player.

The Montreal power-play came to life going 2-for-3 on the night with goals from Carr and Jeff Petry.

But the back end was once again leaky. The Canadiens play in their own zone was atrocious both at even strength and on the penalty-kill. In the absence of Shea Weber, Jeff Petry logged over 25 minutes. While he had a strong game offensively, it was a completely different story on defense.

But Petry wasn’t alone, as the entire defensive corps struggled in coverage. As a result Carey Price had to be outstanding as the Canucks directed 72 shot attempts towards the Canadiens goal.

The Habs took advantage of a Vancouver team that was 1-5-0 in their past six games entering the contest. They would be wise not to use the same template for upcoming games against Calgary and Edmonton.

~~~

▲    Carey Price, Daniel Carr, Nicolas Deslauriers

▼    David Schlemko, Jakub Jerabek, Karl Alzner, Joe Morrow

1. Thomas Vanek  VAN
2. Nicolas Deslauriers  MTL
3. Jeff Petry  MTL

• “First of all, maybe we should stop calling them the fourth line, because they don’t play like fourth liners. They play the right way, they manage the puck, and battle against the boards. For me, they’re a lot better than a fourth line, and we’re very happy with their work.”
• “I just think they play the right way. It’s pretty simple when you look at what they’re doing. They’re doing exactly what we’re asking of them, and their work ethic is what makes the difference.
• “They compete so hard every time they’re on the ice. They’re doing the right things — winning board battles, winning races — and they’re in the right places to score too. They’re a pretty reliable line — defensively they do a pretty good job — so it’s to their credit. They deserve the accolades because they’re doing what they’re being told, and it’s paying dividends for them and for us.”
• “We’re happy with the offensive part — not so much with the defensive part tonight. At least we scored some goals which is something that we’ll build off, because we’re not where we want to be yet.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

In 8 games since being called up from the AHL, @CanadiensMTL winger Daniel Carr has the most points of anyone on the Habs with 9 in 8 games (3G-6A)

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) December 20, 2017

From the Press Box | Rocket Need a Rebound, World Junior Preview [Podcast S1/E14] https://t.co/pd8XBn8Wha pic.twitter.com/VTDZdcNfkd

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) December 20, 2017

Needless to say that Daniel Carr is having his best season in the NHL so far, having the same amounts of points than the previous two seasons , but in a lot less games #Habs @AllHabs pic.twitter.com/GEONnr8IwJ

— Mathieu CHagnon (@Mat_CH) December 20, 2017

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