Canadiens Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen – Nick Suzuki – Mike Hoffman

Jonathan Drouin – Ryan Poehling – Joel Armia

Mathieu Perreault – Laurent Dauphin – Cole Caufield

Michael Pezzetta – Cedric Paquette – Jesse Ylonen

Ben Chiarot – David Savard

Alexander Romanov – Chris Wideman

Brett Kulak – Kale Clague

Jake Allen – Sam Montembeault

Corey Schueneman

Christian Dvorak (lower-body), Jake Evans (undisclosed), Tyler Toffoli (upper-body), Jeff Petry (upper-body), Josh Anderson (upper-body), Joel Edmundson (back), Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

Brendan Gallagher, Sami Niku

Game Report

Another loss, the 20th of the season. Another game where the Canadiens seemed outmatched. And when they generated a good scoring chance, an old friend was there to shut them down.

Much was made of Jake Allen‘s return to St. Louis, the team who drafted him in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Allen received a classy video tribute from the Blues on the Enterprise Center scoreboard during a break in the first period.

It was the first time that Allen faced his former team and it was clearly an emotional experience for the Canadiens’ backup turned starter. 

But there is a new sheriff in St. Louis and he was facing his old team for the first time too. Charlie Lindgren has been a godsend for the Blues stepping in and winning three straight games. During that time period, Lindgren has a goals against average of 1.42 and a .947 save percentage. 

Like the Canadiens, the Blues have a boatload of injuries. But unlike Montreal, St. Louis has a head coach who puts players called up from the Springfield Thunderbirds in a position to succeed. And the “birdies”, as they are known, have been delivering in spades for Craig Berube.

Post-game Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme delivered this gem, saying “At one point too, you got to try something behind the bench, maybe something will spark up.”

Does this sound like a man with a vision or a coach who is grasping at straws?

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