CANADIENS
Montreal

5-1

DUCKS
Anaheim

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings 

[one_half]Pacioretty – Danault – Radulov
Byron – Mitchell – Gallagher
Lehkonen – Plekanec – Flynn
Carr – McCarron – Terry
[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Emelin – Weber
Beaulieu – Petry
Barberio – Redmond
[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders

Price
Montoya

Scratches

Sven Andrighetto (upper body), Andrei Markov (lower body)

Injured Reserve

Alex Galchenyuk (knee), David Desharnais (knee), Greg Pateryn (ankle), Andrew Shaw (concussion)

Game Report

Some would have you believe that Michel Therrien is a genius. His game plan is so masterfully designed that the Canadiens fans need not worry about injuries. The coach can slide a replacement player in place who will not miss a beat.

For all the talk about the success of ‘the system’, this game was about the Canadiens taking advantage of a tired Ducks team on the second half of a back-to-back following a win in Toronto on Monday night. It was also about exploiting Jonathan Bernier, a goaltender who just can’t win against the Montreal Canadiens. And who can’t stop pucks off the stick of Max Pacioretty.

#Habs Max Pacioretty has now scored 10 goals in 10 games vs #NHLDucks Jonathan Bernier

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) December 21, 2016

 Taking advantage of the Ducks meant skating them into the ground.  Anaheim had nothing left for the final two periods generating just six shots on goal in those 40 minutes. Key to shutting down of the Ducks offense (in addition to their fatigue) was superb defensive play led by Shea Weber and Alexei Emelin. In addition, Carey Price took every opportunity to clear the Ducks dump-ins.

Try to argue that Price had an easy night and you will look like a fool. Price was key to limiting the number of shots against by ensuring that the puck spent very little time in the Canadiens end.

Habs players passing the puck to Carey Price and having him reverse it has become my favourite thing.

— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) December 21, 2016

 Kudos to Jeff Petry who has put in extra time to elevate his game. Petry has goals in three straight games, has been named the number one star in two consecutive games and had three points on Tuesday night.

A good re-introduction to the second pairing for Nathan Beaulieu. But we’ve seen one-off performances by Beaulieu before. And before going overboard in praise, it’s prudent to recognize that very little of this game was spent in the Canadiens end, the part of the ice where Beaulieu struggles most. His challenge is to play smart, defensive hockey consistently that will compliment his offensive game.

Careful before you read to much into their record. The Canadiens continue to have a wide disparity in home games. They are playing below .500 and head there for six straight games after a tough matchup at home on Thursday against the Wild.

~~~

▲     Carey Price, Arturri Lehkonen, Tomas Plekanec, Jeff Petry, Michael McCarron, Paul Byron

▼     

1.  Jeff Petry  MTL
2.  Paul Byron  MTL
3.  Nathan Beaulieu  MTL

• “[Jeff Petry] is probably playing the best hockey of his career right now. We’ve seen him improve since the day he arrived from Edmonton, but lately he’s become as involved on offense as he is on defense. He skates well and he plays with confidence, which are important things on this team.”
• On Paul Byron: “No (I didn’t have any input into the acquisition of Paul Byron.) I’m going to tell you a story. When we got Paulie, [Marc Bergevin] was not around the team. I gave him a call and said “I think we picked up the wrong guy.” When you look at him, he’s a small player. And that’s kinda an inside joke.”
• “I liked the fact that we scored but there are things that we could do better on the power-play. It’s good for the stats..”
• “They are ready to play, they work hard, they pay attention to detail, they pay attention to structure. We got good leadership.”

Jeff Petry

• “Tonight we used our speed really well, and that’s one of our biggest assets. We knew with the start we had in Anaheim [on Nov. 29], it would be tough for them to keep up with us if we played a full 60, so that’s what we did tonight.”

Max Pacioretty

• “Guys have stepped up and played roles that they’ve never played before, and have contributed greatly to the team’s success. We’re happy for everybody when they have that individual success. It takes a group effort, especially with the situation we’re in right now.”
• “Everybody needs to make sure they’re skating and making it hard on the opposing team, because even if it doesn’t show up on the scoresheet, it shows as the game goes on.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

McCarron has looked great since being called up #GoHabsGo @AllHabs

— Matt Smith (@Snakebite350) December 21, 2016

Lehkonen wins a battle to get it to Byron who feeds Plekanec for the goal #Habs pic.twitter.com/NkNMxdjGEW

— Shayne Pasquino (@shaynepasquino) December 21, 2016

Petry's goal was unassisted, however full credit to 32-62-14 for aggressively forechecking, causing the turnover and driving the net #Habs

— Father of three (@CJ_Casselman) December 21, 2016

Follow @AllHabs on Twitter