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RECAP | Canadiens – Capitals: Habs Beat the NHL’s Best

Rick Stephens

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

FINAL | Game 19, Away Game 10 | Friday November 15, 2019
Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

CANADIENS

Montreal

5-2

CAPITALS

Washington
(Photo by Nick Wass/AP Photo)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Jonathan Drouin – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Paul Byron – Max Domi – Joel Armia

Tomas Tatar – Nick Suzuki – Artturi Lehkonen

Nick Cousins – Nate Thompson – Jordan Weal

Defence pairings

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Ben Chiarot – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Cale Fleury

Goaltenders

Carey Price – Keith Kinkaid

Scratches

Christian Folin, Mike Reilly

Injuries

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

Game Report

The Canadiens can be accused of not giving their best effort while squeaking out wins against the Kings and Blue Jackets, two teams near the bottom of the standings. A similar performance was not going to cut it going against the top team in the NHL.

To their credit, the Habs had one of their best road games of the season against the Capitals.

But it could have turned out quite differently. Claude Julien noted that the Capitals had multiple, high-quality scoring chances in the first minutes of the game. But Carey Price turned away every Washington chance, thereby setting the tone for this the game.

Price, being in the zone, boosted the confidence of his teammates. The Habs skaters played the Capitals tight, and in the process created turnovers. Montreal then used their speed in transition and took advantage of some shaky Washington goaltending. 

Post-game, Capitals head coach, Todd Reirden said that his team wasn’t sharp and didn’t play their game. That may be true, but stick taps to Montreal for taking advantage of their opportunity against an extremely good hockey club. 

Nick Suzuki is becoming increasingly comfortable at centre and has been very effective. In addition to his goal tonight, Suzuki led the team at the faceoff dot with a 71 per cent success rate. Suzuki had one of the best games of his short professional career.

In the ‘flying under the radar’ category, Artturi Lehkonen was tops on the Habs with a brilliant 72.73 Corsi for percentage. Lehkonen was extremely effective creating opportunities for his teammates and limiting scoring chances of the Capitals.

The Canadiens will host the Devils on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.  

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Shea Weber, Tomas Tatar, Phillip Danault, Nick Suzuki, Artturi Lehkonen

▼  Paul Byron, Victor Mete, Max Domi

The Numbers

 Game Statistics 
CANADIENS   CAPITALS
40 Shots 28
59 Face-off % 41
0-for-1 Power Play 1-for-1
2 Penalty Minutes 2
24 Hits 26
68 Corsi For 48
 Scoring Summary
 FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
 Canadiens (11-5-3) 0 4 1 – – 5
 Capitals (14-3-4) 0 0 2 – – 2
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Danault (6), Weber (6), Weal (3), Suzuki (4), Tatar (7)-ENG
  • WSH: Ovechkin (14)-PPG, Kuznetsov (9)
  • MTL: Price (W) 10-4-2
  • WSH: Samsonov (L) 5-2-1

Stars of the Game

 NHL Official Three Stars
  1. Phillip Danault  MTL
  2. Tomas Tatar  MTL
  3. Alex Ovechkin  WSH

Watch

 Video Highlights 

What Did They Say?

 Post-game Quotes
Claude Julien  
  • “We responded really well and I almost thought about leaving Drouin in the dressing room for that reason. When he left, we started to score. But he asked if he could play and we let him.”
  • “I really liked our game tonight. We knew they were going to start fast and they had some good scoring chances and Carey (Price) made big saves. The goal was to come out of the first period either tied or ahead and we managed to do that. Then, we kind of took over. We had good support.”
  • “What I liked about our team tonight was that, as much they like to stretch the play through the neutral zone, we played them tight. We didn’t give them much space and that can be frustrating for the other team.”
Nick Suzuki
  • “I think that’s the best game I’ve played at center. I’m more comfortable faceoff-wise and defensive-wise. I think I want to keep playing at center. I’m just trying to go out there every day and prove that I can play the center position, focus on the defensive side first and let the offense do the rest.”

Shea Weber

  • “It’s a big win for us, but we’ve got about five to 10 minutes to enjoy it. Then, we’ve got to get back to work for [Saturday night against the Devils].”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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