Canadiens Lineup

Tyler Toffoli – Nick Suzuki – Jake Evans

 Jonathan Drouin – Rem Pitlick – Josh Anderson

Michael Pezzetta – Ryan Poehling – Artturi Lehkonen 

Laurent Dauphin – Christian Dvorak – Mike Hoffman

Ben Chiarot – David Savard

Kale Clague – Jeff Petry

Alexander Romanov – Chris Wideman

Sam Montembeault – Cayden Primeau

Brett Kulak, Sami Niku

Cedric Paquette (undisclosed), Jake Allen (lower-body), Paul Byron (hip), Brendan Gallagher (lower-body), Mathieu Perreault (lower-body), Joel Edmundson (back), Carey Price (knee), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Joel Armia, Cole Caufield

Michael McNiven, Lukas Vejdemo, Corey Schueneman

Game Report

It was a big office news day for the Montreal Canadiens with the announcement of Kent Hughes, the 18th general manager in franchise history. While bigots grumbled about the new GM not being quite French enough, true Habs fans welcomed the tandem of Hughes and Jeff Gorton with fanciful thoughts about brighter days for the team.

Despite having played on Monday night, there seemed to be a new energy with the players as well. The Canadiens welcomed back Tyler Toffoli who had been sidelined with a hand injury since December 4th. Missing from the lineup were Joel Armia and Cole Caufield after being added to the COVID protocol list.

Lines were juggled.

The Habs managed to squeak through the first period unscathed despite being outshot 14-7. Dallas enjoyed a considerable amount of offensive zone time but didn’t seem to be bearing down on their chances. The Stars’ broadcasters commented that the home team didn’t seem to be taking the 32nd-ranked squad very seriously.

Montreal opened the scoring on the power-play via a pretty passing play from Nick Suzuki to Tyler Toffoli to Christian Dvorak. Twenty-two seconds later the Canadiens scored again when a puck bounced in off the face of Michael Pezzetta. It was the first fortunate break for the visitors.

The Stars looked stunned to be trailing by two goals.

As they say, things happen in threes. That was certainly the case as the Canadiens got two more breaks during the game: both goal reviews went in their favor. Yes, the luck seemed to be on the Montreal bench this night.

Trailing in the third period, the Stars mounted a shot barrage for a wild finish. With an combination of missed shots, blocked shots and solid saves, the Canadiens held on for the victory. It was the first win for the Canadiens newly-minted general manager.

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