CANADIENS
Montreal

4-1

SENATORS
Ottawa

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Galchenyuk – Radulov
Byron – Plekanec – Gallagher
Lehkonen – Danault – Shaw
King – Mitchell – McCarron
[/one_half]

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

Goaltenders

Price
Montoya

Scratches

Brandon Davidson, Brian Flynn, Michael McCarron, Andreas Martinsen, Nikita Nesterov

Injured Reserve

Game Report

The question coming into this weekend was Who is the class of the Atlantic division? While the Canadiens won the game on Saturday, the question remained open as the victory came by the slimmest of margins. Carey Price was perfect in the shootout and Craig Anderson was not.

Sunday’s contest was a completely different kettle of fish. The Canadiens were solid, top to bottom. They dominated on every part of the ice.

Let’s be clear, there are still on-ice issues (the power-play could be better.) Despite having a favorable schedule, games still have to be won before Montreal can be crowned champs of the Atlantic. But there were some very good signs on Sunday night.

The secondary scoring that went on hiatus for the middle part of the season has returned. Canadiens fans reviewing the scoresheet should be smiling. And the timing couldn’t be better. Tomas Plekanec was superb.

For all of the nonsense about exiling Alexei Emelin, the Canadiens will need him playing a strong role if they are to go anywhere in the playoffs. Quite correctly, Claude Julien returned Emelin to the lineup on Sunday and he didn’t disappoint one bit.

But when push came to shove, the turning point was provided by Carey Price. With the Canadiens leading 2-1, Price made a spectacular toe save on Kyle Turris. Had the Senators tied the game in the second period despite having been thoroughly outplayed, the outcome could have been quite different.

It’s Price’s brilliant play since Julien’s arrival that has propelled this ship.

~~~

▲     Carey Price, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov, Shea Weber, Artturi Lehkonen, Brendan Gallagher, Alexei Emelin  

▼     

1.  Paul Byron  MTL
2.  Tomas Plekanec  MTL
3.  Brendan Gallagher  MTL

• “I thought [Alexei Emelin] was real solid. Emmy was the Emmy that we all know tonight.”
• “They weren’t scratched because they weren’t good. They were scratched because we have depth. We want to keep players ready to play”

Brendan Gallagher

• “That’s what [Carey Price] does. Night after night, he makes incredible saves at key moments. He’s confident and we know we can count on him. It was a big stop. I don’t know if many goaltenders around the world can make a save like that. It helped us keep the lead and we built on it.”

Shea Weber

• “Since the trades, I think we’ve established our identity a little more and built on it.   We’re more consistent and that’s what you want this time of year.”

Paul Byron

• “It was pretty special. I didn’t think I’d be a 20-goal scorer in the NHL. I’ve come a long way to reach that, so it’s definitely a special moment. My wife [Sarah] and kids [Elianna and Brysen] were here at the rink, so it’s pretty cool for them to see.”

Jordie Benn

• “I think it got faster after it skipped off the ice. It hit the guy’s stick, one of the two. It wasn’t a very hard shot. A little cricket bounce. It was good.”
• “We knew coming in that they were right on our tail. We wanted to push and show what we’ve got. They played well [in both games]. Obviously, we came out with a couple of points.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

#Habs fans. Emelin played a really solid game. If he does this from now on he will never be an issue. @AllHabs

— Blain (@BlainPotvin_THW) March 20, 2017

#Habs Benn on Price's acrobatic 2nd period save: "At intermission I came in and said, 'If I did that I'd blow my hamstrings off.'"

— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) March 20, 2017

Turning point of the game was the save Price made onTurris with the score only 2-1. #Habs @AllHabs

— Mika (@KostaMika) March 20, 2017

Follow @AllHabs on Twitter