Canadiens Lineup

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson

Rem Pitlick – Ryan Poehling – Paul Byron

Mike Hoffman – Christian Dvorak – Brendan Gallagher

Mathieu Perreault – Laurent Dauphin – Tyler Pitlick

Alexander Romanov – David Savard

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Jordan Harris – Chris Wideman

Carey Price – Sam Montembeault

William Lagesson, Kale Clague, Corey Schueneman

Michael Pezzetta (suspended), Joel Armia (family), Jake Evans (virus), Jake Allen (lower-body), Justin Barron (lower-body), Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Game Report

The honeymoon is definitely over. Good vibes and inspirational speeches can only last so long before reality sets in. The Canadiens are on a six-game losing streak and are losers of seven of their last eight games.

As interim head coach, Marty St. Louis has hit 20 losses with a record of 12-16-4. And the team coached by an offensive hockey mind is having trouble putting the puck in the net. 

The good news is that Carey Price has been rock solid in his two starts since returning. Price has made the tough saves looked easy, controlled the pace of the game, and helped his defensemen move the puck. Price has also brought a major dose of leadership to the team on and off the ice.

What Price can’t do is score and neither can his teammates. Habs skaters have now gone three full games without scoring a single goal. That’s nine periods of hockey going back to Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Of the forwards in tonight’s lineup, Mathieu Perreault won’t be returning. Perhaps Laurent Dauphin can find a home with an AHL affiliate of another team. And we’ll see if Kent Hughes can work his magic to divest the team of the contracts of Mike Hoffman, Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher.

But the first change in the off-season should begin with the coaching staff. It’s clear that Alex Burrows is not an NHL-calibre coach and his power-play schemes have been dreadful.

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