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‘We Got Outplayed’ | RECAP: MTL @ WSH

Rick Stephens

Montreal Canadiens vs Washington Capitals, Game Recap: Habs, Line-up, Score, Statistics, Highlights, Post-game, Interviews, NHL, Three-Stars

FINAL | Game 21, Away Game 10 | Wednesday November 24, 2021
Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

CANADIENS

Montreal

3-6

CAPITALS

Washington
Cedric Paquette (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield

Jonathan Drouin – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson

Artturi Lehkonen – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher

Cedric Paquette – Ryan Poehling – Joel Armia

Defence pairings

Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry

Sami Niku – David Savard

Alexander Romanov – Chris Wideman

Goaltenders

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

Scratches

Michael Pezzetta, Mattias Norlinder

Injuries

Brett Kulak (lower-body),  Mike Hoffman (upper body), Mathieu Perreault (eye), Joel Edmundson (undisclosed), Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Game Report

The Canadiens were dominated right from the drop of the puck by the fourth best team in the NHL. Montreal scored three times to add to their personal stats but they never threatened to make it close. Shot attempts (5-on-5) were 63-39 for Washington.

Curiously, high-danger scoring chances were even in the game. But while Ilya Samsonov was making big saves for the home side, Jake Allen was not. The Canadiens struggles in this game went well beyond goaltending, but after an injury absence, Allen looked a little rusty in his return.

The game started with bad play from Jeff Petry, who is expected to be the Canadiens best defenceman. A bad pinch, poor defensive coverage and a lazy penalty by number 26 quickly gifted the Capitals a 2-0 lead. When Cedric Paquette banked the puck off Michael Sgarbossa for his first goal in almost four years, it was game over.

In his 13th game of the season, Cole Caufield finally got his first goal. Post-game Caufield said that the Canadiens are “playing for pride” after their 16th loss in 21 games. It is only the quarter mark of the year but the players know what this means.

American Thanksgiving marks an important milestone in the season having been used as a predictor for years. Currently the Canadiens are 29th place in a 32-team league. They won’t be making the playoffs in 2021-22.

Tonight was the ninth time this team allowed five or more goals. That is, five or more goals in 43 percent of their games this season. That’s unacceptable.

And still, no action from the absent owner.

Up Next

The Canadiens next play the Sabres in Buffalo for a rare Friday night game.

Plus

▲  Artturi Lehkonen, Brendan Gallagher

Minus

▼  Jeff Petry, Cedric Paquette, Chris Wideman, Jake Allen, Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Allen is Back | PREVIEW: MTL @ WSH

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   CAPITALS
28 Shots 34
46 Face-off % 54
0-for-3 Power Play 1-for-1
2 Penalty Minutes 6
22 Hits 20
39 Corsi For 63
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (5-14-2) 1 1 1 – – 3
Capitals (12-3-5) 3 1 2 – – 6
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Evans (4), Caufield (1), Lehkonen (2)
  • WSH: Dowd (2), Carlson (4)-PPG, Sgarbossa (1), Kuznetsov (7), Wilson (7), Orlov (3)
  • MTL: Allen (L) (4-9-1)
  • WSH: Samsonov (W) (7-0-1)

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
  1. Nic Dowd  WSH
  2. John Carlson  WSH
  3. Alex Ovechkin  WSH

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

  • “Those two quick goals put us on our heels. We cannot wait to go back to the room and I talk to them and they talk to themselves and then we come back. We need to have those reactions after a goal and turn this thing around quicker.”

Brendan Gallagher

  • “We got outplayed – it’s as simple as that – you can look to make excuses but it just wasn’t good enough. Like I said to the previous questions: we got what we deserved.”

Jake Evans

  • “I feel bad for everyone; I think we’re working hard but sometimes we lose coverage, lose a quick battle and it bites us in the butt so it’s time to snap out of it.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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