Canadiens Lineup

Jonathan Drouin  – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Charles Hudon – Max Domi – Matthew Peca

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia 

Kenny Agostino – Michael Chaput – Nicolas Deslauriers

Victor Mete – Shea Weber

Mike Reilly – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Jordie Benn

Carey Price – Antti Niemi

Karl Alzner, Tomas Tatar (flu), Paul Byron (upper body)

Andrew Shaw (neck)

Game Report

Wearing their retro Mighty Ducks jerseys, the visitors from Anaheim were not so mighty. Now on a five-game slide, the Ducks have been outscored 27-6 in that timeframe.

The Canadiens deserve credit for grabbing their opponent by the throat early on and not allowing them up for air. Anaheim looked demoralized heading to the first intermission with the Habs up 3-0.

Despite a brief surge by the Ducks in the second, the Canadiens cruised to a convincing win. When Anaheim tried to spark a comeback, Carey Price was there to snuff it out.

After a weekend when both players were universally criticized for their lack of effort, Brendan Gallagher and Jonathan Drouin put on a show combining for six points and two of the three stars.

But the Canadiens best line continues to be the three Finns, who dominate possession, are relentless forecheckers and are hard to play against. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored for the third straight game, something never done before by an 18-year-old Canadien. Joel Armia picked up an assist and the game’s third star.

The test now gets tougher for Montreal as they host top tier teams from the East and West. The Jets arrive for a contest at the Bell Centre on Thursday while the Habs face the Maple Leafs in a traditional Saturday night matchup.

Plus / Minus

▲  Carey Price, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Joel Armia, Artturi Lehkonen, Brendan Gallagher, Phillip Danault, Jonathan Drouin, Jeff Petry, Shea Weber

▼  Charles Hudon, Brett Kulak, Max Domi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Michael Chaput, Kenny Agostino, Matthew Peca, Jordie Benn