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RECAP | Canadiens – Lightning: Habs Simply Outmatched

Rick Stephens

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

FINAL | Game 69, Away Game 33 | Thursday March 5, 2020
Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL

CANADIENS

Montreal

0-4

LIGHTNING

Tampa Bay
(Photo by Chris O’Meara, AP)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Artturi Lehkonen – Phillip Danault – Joel Armia

Charles Hudon – Nick Suzuki – Jordan Weal

Paul Byron – Max Domi – Dale Weise

Lukas Vejdemo – Jake Evans

Defence pairings

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry

Xavier Ouellet – Christian Folin

Karl Alzner

Goaltenders

Carey Price – Charlie Lindgren

Scratches

Jonathan Drouin, Tomas Tatar, Brendan Gallagher

Injuries

Victor Mete

Game Report

These are going to be tough games for the Canadiens to play and for fans to watch. In the scheme of things, it was a meaningless game for Montreal, and one where they were severely outmatched.

The Habs were not a threat all game long. 

Dutifully, Montreal players spoke about not burying chances in their post-game scrums. The fact is, they had very few legitimate scoring chances all game long. The Canadiens played a perimeter game failing to get to the middle of the ice against a strong Lightning team, who are tuning up for the playoffs. 

The knee jerk instinct for the head coach (and some fans) was to point to the Canadiens players out of the lineup with illness and injury. But, of course, they are ignoring the obvious: the Lightning were missing their best player and captain, Steven Stamkos, and a top-four defenceman in Ryan McDonagh.

No, the simple truth is that the Canadiens, 100 per cent healthy or not, are no where close to being a contender for the Stanley Cup. Yet, it appears, that there will be no accountability for the multiple failures among the individuals who manage and coach this team. 

The Canadiens now head to Sunrise where they will take on the Panthers on Saturday night. 

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Joel Armia

▼  Paul Byron, Jordan Weal, Ben Chiarot, Karl Alzner, Jeff Petry, Christian Folin, Phillip Danault, Dale Weise, Brett Kulak, Xavier Ouellet

The Numbers

 Game Statistics 
CANADIENS   LIGHTNING
32 Shots 23
54 Face-off % 46
0-for-3 Power Play 1-for-33
211 Penalty Minutes 11
16 Hits 23
39 Corsi For 32
 Scoring Summary
 FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
 Canadiens (31-29-9) 0 0 0 – – 0
 Lightning (42-20-5) 2 1 1 – – 4
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: no scoring
  • TBL: Hedman (10), Killorn (25), Kucherov (32), Hedman (11)-PPG
  • MTL: Price (L) 27-24-6
  • TBL: Vasilevskiy (W) 34-12-3

Stars of the Game

 NHL Official Three Stars
  1. Andrei Vasilevskiy  TBL
  2. Victor Hedman  TBL
  3. Barclay Goodrow   TBL

Watch

 Video Highlights 

What Did They Say?

 Post-game Quotes
Claude Julien  
  • “We worked hard, we had chances, we had everything, but we didn’t have the finish.  We couldn’t score. I think the 4-0 kind of score doesn’t really tell the tale of the game, except that they’re a way more talented team tonight than we had as far as the lineup was concerned. But the compete level and the work ethic and all that stuff, I have nothing to complain about from our team. They tried hard and we just didn’t have enough.”
  • “I liked the response from [Shea Weber.] Great captain. The guys on the ice stood up for each other and Weby went in there and defended a good young prospect for us that needed help. I think at that point I liked Weby’s response and it goes a long ways for this hockey club.”
Shea Weber
  • “We don’t want to make excuses. They’re a good team. They’re always a challenge.”
 

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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