CANADIENS
Montreal

RED WINGS
Detroit

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Byron – Galchenyuk – Radulov
Andrighetto – Plekanec – Gallagher
Pacioretty – Danault – Shaw
Desharnais – Mitchell – Carr[/one_half]

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

Goaltenders

Price
Montoya

Scratches

Greg Pateryn, Brian Flynn

Injured Reserve

Zach Redmond, Artturi Lehkonen

Game Report

With the Canadiens spending the better part of the season proving the notion that they are a one-player team, questions began to pile up on every aspect of the team other than the number one goaltender. In the last two games against the Kings and the Red Wings, the Habs have begun to answer those questions.

Shea Weber has answered every single question of his critics in a resounding way with his play on the ice. Weber now has six goals in 15 games this season. P.K. Subban had the same number of goals in 68 games last year. Already, Weber has more than doubled Subban’s power-play goal output of all of last season.

It’s hard to imagine that Paul Byron is a season-long answer to the left wing spot on the top line. But he’s on fire right now and the fans should enjoy the ride. But more importantly, look beyond the guy who is scoring to the two magicians who are generating the scoring chances: the chemistry and creativity of Alex Galchenyuk and Alexander Radulov is something to behold.

The Canadiens are a far superior team when not having to drag around the anchor that is David Desharnais. With Desharnais not contributing is any aspect of the game on the third line (or second, or first) Andrew Shaw has looked like a slug most of the season. To a lesser degree, similar things have been said about Max Pacioretty. But with Phillip Danault, the two wingers have come alive.

In the past two games the Canadiens have dramatically cut the number of shots allowed, from an average of 40 to 25 shots. That’s manageable for most NHL goalies. For Price, he has given up just one goal (while his team was short-handed) in the past two games.

With the pieces starting to fall into place, let’s not forget about Price. He recorded the 38th shutout of his career and ran his record this season to 10-0-0. Per Elias Sports, Price is the first goaltender in NHL history to win each of his first 10 games in a season.

Elias Sports announced that the Canadiens have won 12 of their first 14 games to begin a season for the first time in their 99-year history in the NHL.

~~~

▲     Carey Price, Shea Weber, Daniel Carr, Jeff Petry, Phillip Danault, Andrei Markov, Andrew Shaw, Alex Galchenyuk

▼     David Desharnais

1.  Andrew Shaw  MTL
2.  Phillip Danault  MTL
3. Carey Price MTL

• “It’s a team win. If you look at it, we were good at even-strength and we were very good on special teams, too. As a coach, I can be more than satisfied. Carey got a shutout. The game was filled with things that I’m pleased with, especially against a division rival.”
• “Those are big points. We were ready for this game and we built on our start.”
• “The way Carey’s playing, he gives us a lot of confidence. He’s a real leader. The way he’s playing, there are moments when the team is flat, like all teams are sometimes, and he’s there to make the big stops.”
• “He’s playing with a lot of confidence. It’s tough to describe his games. We’re always repeating ourselves. I see the way he plays as leadership. That gives your team confidence. Even against Detroit, there were two or three flaws in our game, and Carey managed to make the big saves.”

Andrew Shaw

• “As a team, we all played great. We stuck to the systems. We supported each other with the puck. When you play that way, it makes it easy, it makes it fun. We got in on the forecheck and created some turnovers. The goals might not have all been pretty, but they all count.”
• “When the train’s rolling, everybody gets their chemistry going through the lines. I think every line contributed, everyone was playing hard and competing. We scored some big-time goals early. We kept that pressure. We didn’t let off the gas. We just kept moving forward from there.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com