Canadiens Lineup
Forward lines
Jonathan Drouin – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Paul Byron – Max Domi – Andrew Shaw
Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Jordan Weal
Dale Weise – Nate Thompson – Joel Armia
Defense pairings
Victor Mete – Shea Weber
Mike Reilly – Jeff Petry
Jordie Benn – Christian Folin
Goaltenders
Carey Price – Antti Niemi
Scratches
Charles Hudon, Nicolas Deslauriers, Matthew Peca, Brett Kulak, Tomas Tatar (flu)
Injuries
none
Game Report
With the Canadiens exceeding expectations, Claude Julien has mostly escaped serious scrutiny this season. That came to an abrupt end on this week’s California road trip by the Canadiens.
Julien made several tweaks to his lineup over the three games and none seem to have had the desired effect.
Did Mike Reilly have a positive impact in his return? What about Jesperi Kotkaniemi
? Did he show much more energy and confidence after watching from the press box for two games?
Was the Canadiens power-play able to bail out the team when it dug a hole for itself?
How’s that fourth line looking after the ‘upgrade?’ Did Jonathan Drouin reward the head coach with an outstanding effort after being promoted to the first line? And how did his goalie deployment plan work out?
The answer to these questions should be obvious.
It hasn’t been a good week for the coaching staff. And it goes without saying that the players didn’t react well to their general manager taking a pass on the trade deadline.
Now, a spot in the playoffs could be in jeopardy. It wasn’t that long ago when some were anticipating the Habs leapfrogging Toronto and Boston.
At this point, expectations from September can be tossed out the window. For the past five months, the Montreal Canadiens made their fans believe that they are a playoff team. Anything less would have to be considered a failure.
And then the serious questioning would begin.
Plus / Minus
▲
▼ Jonathan Drouin, Jordie Benn, Christian Folin, Mike Reilly, Phillip Danault, Dale Weise, Nate Thompson
