CANADIENS
Montreal

HURRICANES
Carolina

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Tatar – Danault – Gallagher
Drouin – Domi – Shaw
Hudon – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen
Deslauriers – Chaput – Agostino 
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Schlemko – Weber
Kulak – Petry
Mete – Benn

[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Niemi

Scratches

Reilly, Peca, Ouellet

Injuries

Byron, Armia, Scherbak, Juulsen

Game Report 

It was a third period spent entirely in the Carolina zone. Shots on goal were 22-2 in the final frame. But as it turned out, the push arrived a little too late.

The Canadiens have found themselves trying to mount comebacks often lately. In the NHL, it’s just not that easy to accomplish. And failed comebacks can take a lot out of a team, physically and mentally.

Montreal has now lost five straight games. With the win, the Hurricanes have bumped the Habs out of the final wildcard spot.

The good news was the long-awaited return of Shea Weber. The Canadiens top defenceman made an immediate impact with 13 shot attempts in more than 25 minutes of icetime. Weber, playing his first game as the Canadiens captain, also picked up an assist.

Each team got their share of breaks. Posts at either end. Phil Danault bounced a puck past Curtis McElhinney for the Canadiens only goal. Trevor van Riemsdyk banked a shot off the skate of Victor Mete for the game-winner.

In the end, it came down to the Canadiens lack of an effective power-play. Montreal has the 30th ranked power-play at a 14.4 percent efficiency.

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▲  Carey Price, Shea Weber, Brendan Gallagher

▼  Nicolas Deslauriers, Victor Mete, Jonathan Drouin, David Schlemko, Jordie Benn, Michael Chaput 

1. Curtis McElhinney  CAR
2. Justin Faulk  CAR
3. Phillip Danault  MTL

• “There are a lot of positives about the game tonight, but unfortunately we leave valuable points behind us and that’s what hurts us right now.”
• On David Schlemko partnering with Shea Weber: “We understand that we don’t have necessarily the perfect player there right now and that’s not a knock on Schlemko. It’s just more about we have different options. I thought he did okay. That duo wasn’t in trouble much. But at the same time, we’re trying to work through and then see what’s going to happen from hereon in. But at the end of the day, we have certain guys that can bring a little bit more offence, we got certain guys that are more defensive minded. You got to remember that those guys like Weber play against other teams’ top lines, which means he also plays with some of our top lines. So we need some good puck movement here with that group.”

Shea Weber

• “It definitely felt better as the game went on. I think it’s going to keep getting better as we go here, get more comfortable being in those game situations. Obviously, practice is different than being in those actual situations where you have to read and react and things are happening quickly. You just have to get better as you go.”

Brendan Gallagher

• “I think you noticed [Shea Weber] all over the ice. I think the amount of time we spent in our own zone was definitely less. His presence in front of our net was seen as well.”
• “I think his shot, [Shea Weber] got off five or six pretty good one-timers tonight. You give him that many opportunities, eventually they’re going to start going in. I think every aspect of our game, and he’s the leader of our group, so it was nice to have him back.”
• “[Curtis McElhinney] made some saves, but… that’s kind of the easy way out. I think we’ve got to make it tougher on him. We’ve got to outwork the goalie, too. He’s no different than any other player. There’s always a way to get pucks by him. I think that’s an area we could probably look at tonight and get better at.”

Carey Price

• “[Shea Weber] moves bodies. It’s hard to get around that six-and-a-half feet of stick of his. Obviously, he’s very strong. He leads by example with his physical presence. I think that rubs off on other guys.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com