CANADIENS
Montreal

2-4

WILD
Minnesota

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Danault – Radulov
Byron – Mitchell – Gallagher
Lehkonen – Plekanec – Flynn
Carr – McCarron – Terry
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Beaulieu – Weber
Barberio – Petry
Hanley – Redmond
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Montoya

Scratches

Alexei Emelin (birth of his daughter)

Injured Reserve

Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee), Greg Pateryn (ankle), Andrew Shaw (concussion), Andrei Markov (lower body)

Game Report

So, according to some fans, Carey Price has either forgotten how to play goal or is coping with an injury. So you can believe that or instead consider the state of the team right now: missing their number one centre, a power-play that is AWOL, a man behind the bench who is out-coached nightly and defence corps with four players who belong on the fourth pairing or in the press box.

In fact, it was Price who kept the Canadiens in the game as Michel Therrien’s team, once again, did not look ready to play. The Wild outshot Montreal 10-1 in the first ten minutes.

With Andrei Markov and Greg Pateryn dealing with injuries and Alexei Emelin being occupied with the birth of his daughter, the Canadiens defence was vastly outplayed by a strong forechecking team. With all due respect to Joel Hanley, Mark Barberio, Zach Redmond and Nathan Beaulieu, it won’t be easy for the Canadiens to win games with more than two of them in the lineup at the same time. Under seven minutes of ice-time for each of Hanley and Redmond meant that Shea Weber was up over the 30-minute mark.

That doesn’t bode well for the Canadiens as they play again on Friday night against the top team in the NHL: the Columbus Blue Jackets. Yes, you read that right. The Blue Jackets sit atop the league standings with 48 points, two more than Montreal. And Columbus has two games in hand over the Canadiens.

It was the pairing of Hanley and Redmond who were on the ice for one of their rare shifts when the Wild scored their first goal. Jordan Schroeder danced around the back of the Canadiens net and fired the puck when he was to Price’s right side. Redmond had abandoned his post joining Hanley and Phillip Danault to defend against one Minnesota player, Patrick Cannone.

Schroeder’s goal is the one that some claimed that Price wanted back. But we have seen these type of goals when Price doesn’t have trust in his defencemen. He had to play the pass because he wasn’t confident that it would be managed by Hanley and Redmond.  The defensive coverage in front of Price was abysmal on that scoring play. 

The other two goals were simply excellent shots where the shooters had clean looks. Nathan Beaulieu was at fault on Minnesota’s second goal making a bad read. Mark Barberio made an ill-timed pinch in the third period with the Canadiens on the power-play. With Barberio caught, Eric Staal was sent in alone firing a perfect shot.

The Canadiens power-play was dreadful yet again going 0-for-4. And it allowed a short-handed goal by Minnesota.

~~~

▲     Artturi Lehkonen, Jeff Petry, Shea Weber

▼     Zach Redmond, Joel Hanley, Nathan Beaulieu, Mark Barberio, Phillip Danault, Alexander Radulov, Brendan Gallagher, power-play

1.  Mikael Granlund  MIN
2.  Eric Staal  MIN
3.  Jeff Petry  MTL

Brendan Gallagher

• “We gave up a short-handed goal to go behind in the third period, obviously. Against a team that good, it’s going to be tough to come back. There’s not much to be said. Little mistakes at crucial times, that can make a difference.”
• “They’re definitely tough to play against. They took away a lot of time and space, especially in the neutral zone. There wasn’t much there. They’ve got a good team. They’re well structured. They compete hard.”

Artturi Lehkonen

• “We knew before the game that they were going to be the same kind of team that we are. They’re a really fast team and it was really high-tempo in the game. There wasn’t a lot of room out there, for sure.”

Nathan Beaulieu

• “They’re quick on the forecheck. They’re hungry and speedy, so as a D-man it was tough. They were coming hard.”
• “Not only are they quick, but they’re very skilled. They’re a powerhouse in the West right now and they’re a good hockey team that I’m sure we’ll have another good battle with.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

#BlueJackets extend franchise-best win streak to 11 games. They are outscoring opponents 44-17 in that span.

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 23, 2016

#Habs Max Pacioretty now has 9 goals over his last 9 games (had 5 over first 24 games of season)

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 23, 2016

#Habs 1st 20 mins was slow to start. McCarron line set the tone. 31 kept them in. Time to pick up pace and control center ice #allhabs

— Blain (@BlainPotvin_THW) December 23, 2016

Follow @AllHabs on Twitter