Canadiens Lineup

Jonathan Drouin  – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Tomas Tatar – Max Domi – Matthew Peca

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia 

Charles Hudon – Michael Chaput – Nicolas Deslauriers

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Mike Reilly – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Jordie Benn

Carey Price – Antti Niemi

Karl Alzner, Paul Byron (upper body), Kenny Agostino

Andrew Shaw (neck)

Game Report

The Canadiens just finished playing one of their best games of the season.

The Habs first line tallied 10 points, their rookie centre scored for his fourth consecutive game, the power-play connected for a goal and Montreal’s top defence pair were a combined plus-8 on the night.

There’s more.

The former Jet was an absolute force playing for the first time against his previous  team. And the Canadiens franchise player was solid in goal against one of the most offensively potent teams in the league.

So there was a strong temptation to start drawing grandiose conclusions. And some journalists dived in head first. Luckily smart people intervened.

Was it a statement game? No, of course not. Captain Shea Weber educated questioners reminding them that this was just one game and that the Habs have another challenge coming up on Saturday night.

Then another scribe tried to string together a convoluted narrative to conclude that Jonathan Drouin excels in big games. Coach Claude Julien quickly shut that down saying that that questioners were trying to connect dots that simply weren’t there.

Enjoy the impressive win. But temper the superlatives. It’s clear that the Jets on the Bell Centre ice on Thursday were not the team that has been top-3 in the NHL for much of the season.

And while the roses were busy collecting all of the figurative roses, one group of players stood our for the wrong reasons. Montreal’s depth forwards will be needed during the playoffs and the current group are better suited for the AHL. Safe to say that Marc Bergevin has some work to do here before the deadline.

In soundly defeating Winnipeg, Montreal passed their first test but there are still three challenges remaining over the next nine days. The Maple Leafs are up next for a Saturday night tilt.

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Joel Armia, Brendan Gallagher, Phillip Danault, Jonathan Drouin, Shea Weber, Victor Mete

▼  Charles Hudon, Matthew Peca, Max Domi, Nicolas Deslauriers