CANADIENS
Montreal

CAPITALS
Washington

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Shaw – Flynn – Radulov
Byron – Mitchell – Danault
Matteau – McCarron – Hudon
Gregoire – Friberg – MacMillan[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Beaulieu – Pateryn
Samuelsson – Johnston
Parisi – Lernout
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Montoya
Fucale

Scratches

Jeremiah Addison, Yury Alexandrov, Sven Andrighetto, Guillaume Asselin, Daniel Audette, Mark Barberio, William Bitten, Simon Bourque, Tim Bozon, Matthew Bradley, Daniel Carr, Mike Condon, Connor Crisp, Jacob De La Rose, David Desharnais, Josiah Didier, Alexei Emelin, Jake Evans, Bobby Farnham, Giovanni Fiore, Alex Galchenyuk, Brendan Gallagher, Joel Hanley, Hayden Hawkey, Arvid Henrikson, Noah Juulsen, Nikolas Koberstein, Konstantin Korneev, Andrei Kruchinin, Artturi Lehkonen, Charlie Lindgren, Andrei Markov, Michael McNiven, Victor Mete, Max Pacioretty, Jeff Petry, Michael Pezzetta, Tomas Plekanec, Carey Price, Zach Redmond, Martin Reway, Nikita Scherbak, Mikhail Sergachev, Andrei Sidyakin, Casey Staum, Colin Sullivan, Chris Terry, Dalton Thrower, Maxim Trunev, Lukas Vejdemo, Shea Weber

Game Report

It didn’t take long for Alexander Radulov to get the Bell Centre fans out of their seats. Just 4:12 into his first game in a Canadiens jersey, Radulov tipped a Greg Pateryn point shot for a power-play goal.

Radulov set up Nathan Beaulieu for the Canadiens second power-play goal of the period. Yes, two power-play goals in a period. When is the last time that happened?

Beaulieu finished the game with a goal and three assists. His defensive partner, Greg Pateryn, had three assists and four blocked shots in his team-leading 26 minutes of ice-time.

Andrew Shaw also made his presence known in his first game in a Canadiens sweater. Shaw delivered a nasty hit on Capitals defenceman Connor Hobbs. In the ensuing fight, Shaw encouraged the home fans to get loud. It was a circus-like atmosphere.

Shaw received, five minutes for boarding, five minutes for fighting, a 10-minute misconduct and a game misconduct. Michel THerrien wasn’t impressed. League disciplinarian Stephane Quintal didn’t like the hit at all. Expect a short suspension.

With the exception of a lapse on the Capitals first goal, Al Montoya was solid and should lock down the backup position.

Mike McCarron shared the team lead in hits with Brett Lernout and Philip Samuelsson. McCarron also had a strong night in the faceoff circle at 62 percent. Apart from a few shifts on the power-play, McCarron didn’t have a good opportunity to shine being stuck on the third line.

Veteran Torrey Mitchell made the most of centering the Habs second line by scoring two goals and finishing at plus-3.

~~~

▲     Alexander Radulov, Greg Pateryn, Nathan Beaulieu, Torrey Mitchell, Al Montoya

▼     Stefan Matteau

1. Nathan Beaulieu  MTL
2. Alexander Radulov MTL
3. Greg Pateryn  MTL

• “When there’s an opportunity, we want our defensemen — guys like Nathan (Beaulieu) and [Greg Pateryn] — to go out and get them. They certainly did that tonight, which is something that comes with experience and confidence.”
• “They were a good pairing. They were sharp, they played with a lot of confidence, and they managed the puck really well. They defended really well, and that was a good first game for them. In Pateryn’s case, he learned a lot last year, and we hope he continues to progress.“
• On Andrew Shaw: “It’s a fine line… most important thing is their player didn’t get hurt.”

Nathan Beaulieu

• “I’m being given opportunities, and it’s my time to seize them. The last couple of years I knew I had to work in my own end of the ice and stay patient — I knew I was going to get my turn.“
• “[Alexander Radulov] is so tricky. He catches his own players off guard. He’s going to be a special player for us this year.”

Greg Pateryn

• “We’ve been playing together for five years now, off and on obviously. We spent some time in Hamilton together, and I think we have some good chemistry. [Nathan Beaulieu] knows where I am, I know where he is, and he communicates and skates well. He puts the puck on my tape all the time, so when you have a partner like that and your own game is on, then it’s fun to play.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com