CANADIENS
Montreal

FLAMES
Calgary

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

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

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

Goaltenders

Price
Niemi

Scratches

Jacob De La Rose, Brett Lernout

Injuries

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

Game Report

This game featured a high-paced first period with both teams entering the game on modest winning streaks. Right from the drop of the puck, there were scoring chances with Carey Price making a spuerb save on Sam Bennett in the first minute of play. Following the save, Max Pacioretty beat Mike Smith with a backhand but it was called back after a review ruled that Paul Byron was offside.

The rest of the first period was rather evenly matched. After Byron Froese scored as he tipped a Jordie Benn point shot, Calgary pushed back and had the better chances for the remainder of the period.

The second period belonged to Montreal as the Canadiens consistently outworked a Calgary squad that appeared to have checked out early for their Christmas break. That domination continued into the third period with the Habs extending their lead to 3-0.

But Calgary was not done benefiting from a goal assisted by the stick of Jeff Petry and the goal post. Paul Byron’s penalty in the late going allowed the Flames to score a power-play goal with a 6-on-4 advantage. Carey Price had to be outstanding in the final minutes to preserve the win.

~~~

▲    Carey Price, Artturi Lehkonen, Brendan Gallagher, Tomas Plekanec, Byron Froese, Nicolas Deslauriers

▼    Paul Byron, David Schlemko, Jakub Jerabek, Karl Alzner, Joe Morrow, Phillip Danault

1. Byron Froese  MTL
2. Sam Bennett  CGY
3. Brendan Gallagher  MTL

• “I thought [Artturi Lehkonen] was really good for a guy who hadn’t played for that long. He made a great play on that goal Gally scored. He’s a smart player.”
• “I liked our game as a whole. We moved the puck in transition better than we have in a while. Offensively, we made the right decisions”

Brendan Gallagher

• “It was a relief to score that one because my linemates (Artturi Lehkonen and Tomas Plekanec) did a great job of forechecking and they gave me some great chances.”

Artturi Lehkonen

• “In the first period, I was a little off but I got better as the game went on.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com