CANADIENS
Montreal

WILD
Minnesota

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Pacioretty- Galchenyuk – Andrighetto
Hudon – Plekanec – Byron
De la Rose – McCarron – Mitchell
Lessio – Danault – Brown[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Markov- Barberio
Emelin – Pateryn
Bartley – Dietz
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:

Condon
Scrivens

Scratches:  Lars Eller (flu), Brendan Gallagher (lower-body), P.K. Subban (upper-body), Stefan Matteau (lower-body)
Injured reserve:  Carey Price, Daniel Carr, Brian Flynn, Jeff Petry, David Desharnais, Tom Gilbert, Nathan Beaulieu

Game Report

The silver lining of the Canadiens being out of the playoffs and having a raft of injuries is that management has a unique opportunity to take a look at organizational depth and the development of their prospects.

The injection of youth into a lineup can be exciting to watch, at times. But youthful enthusiasm can take a team only so far. Some games will be tough to watch.

Like tonight.

Up front, the Canadiens had one emerging star in Alex Galchenyuk. There were two veterans: Tomas Plekanec and Max Pacioretty.

Five in the lineup could be classified as 4th-liners: Paul Byron, Torrey Mitchell, Mike Brown, Phillip Danault and Lucas Lessio. When healthy, Brian Flynn and David Desharnais could be added to this group.  And then there were the 22-and-under prospects: Sven Andrighetto, Charles Hudon, Michael McCarron and Jacob De la Rose.

During the off-season serious questions will be asked about the logjam Marc Bergevin has created at the bottom of the lineup and the scarcity of talent at the top. Bergevin will also be questioned about the progression of the prospects. Will the Habs general manager remain fiercely loyal to his coaching staff in St. John’s?

In their recent Future Watch issue, the Hockey News identified the top-10 prospects who have fallen the most down the rankings. Canadiens prospects comprise three of the ten: Jacob de la Rose (1), Zach Fucale (2) and Nikita Scherbak (6.) At the deadline, Bergevin traded for the prospect who plunged the most last year: Stefan Matteau.

Does that inspire hope for the future of this team?

Habs fans are willing to be patient, to watch young talent grow and to see the team come together to compete for the Cup. But in order for that to happen, it is crucial that the Canadiens have elite-level personnel in the GM chair and behind the bench. At present they don’t, not even close.

If genuinely serious about a championship, Mr. Molson has some off-season work to do.

The Canadiens host the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre on Tuesday.

~~~

▲     Phillip Danault, Andrei Markov, Sven Andrighetto, Lucas Lessio

▼     Charles Hudon

1. Mikael Granlund  MIN
2. Marco Scandella  MIN
3. Mark Barberio MTL

• “The line changes tonight brought us some energy, which is what I was looking for. I put (Michael) McCarron on a line with (Lucas) Lessio, who I like a lot — he’s very dynamic — and Charles Hudon. They were energetic, and created some scoring chances. Tomas Plekanec’s line did too. The goal was to re-energize our team on the ice, and we were successful in that regard.“

Tomas Plekanec

• “After the start we had, suffering all those injuries to our top guys wasn’t easy, but it happens. It happens to every other team in different years, and it’s a great opportunity for the young guys to step in. They played really well. A lot of them skated really well. When I was younger I didn’t get as many opportunities like this that they’re getting now.“
• “They need to focus on their games, and focus on whatever their jobs are. They’re young and learning — like we’ve all been — but they’re doing a good job.”

Mike Condon

• “They played hard. I thought we matched them. I thought we had a really good effort and tonight was a game of inches and they got what they needed, and we didn’t.“
• “I had my glove on it and I’m not sure who it was, he got his skate on it and got the puck loose, and obviously I didn’t agree with it but I’m not the ref so that’s how it goes.”

Wild coach John Torchetti

• “Good movement, really good movement. [Matthew Dumba] got a little bit wedged on the wall there but he stayed nice and poised there, kept under control with the puck and kept the possession, and we had good movement off of that.“

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com