CANADIENS
Montreal

5-2

DEVILS
New Jersey

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Plekanec – Radulov
Lehkonen – Danault – Shaw
Byron – Mitchell – Gallagher
Carr – Flynn – Andrighetto
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Emelin – Weber
Markov – Petry
Beaulieu – Redmond
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Montoya

Scratches

Greg Pateryn (ankle) 

Injured Reserve

Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee)

Game Report

There were many Canadiens players who played well in this game. With respect to skaters, there was none better than Artturi Lehkonen who continues to impress. With the Canadiens missing two centres, coach Michel Therrien called this a statement game.

But that could also apply to Carey Price as this was definitely a statement game. Price’s message was loud and clear. It was sent with authority to the Devils, opponents around the league, referees and the folks in the NHL offices.

Post-game, Price described the current state of the NHL this way, “That’s the nature of the league. Go to the net, run the goalie over and score a goal.”

Price is right. The situation is out of control and the league doesn’t seem the least bit interested in doing anything to protect goaltenders.

When asked about the incidence of running the goalie being on the rise by CTV’s Brian Wilde, Price replied, “Well there are no penalties being given anymore. A guy gets run over, there’s no goalie interference called anymore. It just seems to be only called on a goal. That’s just my opinion.”

On taking matters into his owns hands tonight, Price said, “I got ran over on the first goal, so I figured I wasn’t going to take another one. I got fired up, I guess.”

So at the end of the first period, Price made a statement with his blocker. Devils winger, Kyle Palmieri, who comes with a reputation, was on the receiving end of several blows. It was a dirty play by Palmieri, who used the momentum from being shadowed by Jeff Petry to take the legs out from under Price.

Reckless plays like the one perpetrated by Palmieri (and Chris Kreider) are far too common in the NHL. And Price knows that such irresponsible targeting by opponents could mean the end of his season. Or career.

Is it time for the NHL to seriously address the issue? “You’ll have to ask the league officials on that one,” said Price.

Palmieri received two minutes for goalie interference. Price was assessed a double minor for roughing. The Canadiens killed off the penalty.

Following Price’s on-ice ‘statement’, the Canadiens outshot the Devils 38-13 over the final 40 minutes. It’s clear that his teammates received the message.

Strong leaders can use different ways of leading. The usually calm, unshakeable Carey Price led his team with a deafening message to all.

~~~

▲     Carey Price, Artturi Lehkonen, Shea Weber, Alexei Emelin, Torrey Mitchell, Phillip Danault, Andrew Shaw

▼     Brian Flynn

1.  Phillip Danault  MTL
2.  Torrey Mitchell  MTL
3.  Andrew Shaw  MTL

• “It was a statement game, I told the players.”

Andrew Shaw

• “It just shows the kind of character we have in the locker room here. We stick together as a team, and we’re going to fight through adversity.”

Nathan Beaulieu

• On Price, “When you see a guy get fired up like that, it definitely does something to the bench.”
• “It’s hockey. We’ll take numbers. We’ll play them again.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

So many scouts here for Habs-Devils there aren't enough seats in scouts row on the press box. Never seen this many at a game, 20 accredited.

— Аrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) December 9, 2016

Also worth noting Pateryn played the entire third period in St. Louis with a broken ankle…because he's a soldier.

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) December 9, 2016

Emelin showing he truly is a top 4 so far this season

— Blain (@Potsy_70) December 9, 2016

Follow @AllHabs on Twitter