Red Wings-Canadiens quick take: Flat Wings swept by Canadiens, who take 1-point lead in Atlantic Division standings

The Detroit Red Wings dropped the first game of their back-to-back slate against the Montreal Canadiens, so the Wings headed into Saturday night’s game at the Bell Centre desperately needing to win against a Canadiens team that was only a point behind Detroit in the Atlantic Division standings.

On Saturday night, the Canadiens went with the same lineup against Detroit–goaltender Samuel Montembeault included–while the Red Wings went with Alex Lyon in goal, and tweaked their lineup as necessary.

Montreal dismantled the Red Wings on Saturday night, responding to Joe Veleno’s goal 6:41 in with 5 straight goals, including a power play goal by Patrik Laine, and the Habs won 5-1.

Montreal now leads Detroit by 1 point in the Atlantic Division standings, and Detroit will try to at least get a couple of points on Monday when they host the St. Louis Blues…but falling to 13-16-and-4 is not good at all.

In pregame warmups, Alex Lyon led the Wings out to the ice at the Bell Centre…

And the Red Wings made some lineup changes…

While the Habs stuck with their lineup from Friday night’s game, even starting the same players:

While the Red Wings shook up 2 lines and 2 D pairs, moving Rasmsusen up to the Larkin line, Tarasenko down to the Motte-Compher pairing, and placing Lagesson with Petry and Gustafsson with Holl:

The Wings and Canadiens’ starters and scratches were as follows:

In the 1st period, the revised Raymond-Larkin-Rasmussen line and Chiarot and Seider started with Alex Lyon opposite the Habs’ starters on Friday night–Jake Evans, Emil Heineman and Joel Armia up front, Kaiden Guhle and Alexandre Carrier on defense, and Samuel Montembeault in goal.

The Habs won the opening faceoff and mucked it up at center ice, with Larkin jabbing the puck deep and the Canadiens seeing Seider knocking over Heineman before Lyon and Seider tried to clear, Heineman sent a puck in front and Detroit forced the puck out to center as they changed lines 45 seconds in.

Lyon had to stop 2 shots at the 1-minute mark, one in tight and one from distance…

And Tyler Motte, Tarasenko and Compher got to work, with the line grinding it out down low before forcing an icing against Montreal…

The Wings won the offensive zone faceoff, but DeBrincat’s shot was blocked, and Mike Matheson got a shot off on Lyon before Detroit’s Copp line went offside and regrouped for a change 2 minutes in;

Xhekaj sent the puck in deep vs. Veleno & company, and Kasper had to battle Dvorak before Petry skated up the left wing on a 2-on-1 and sent a shot right into Montembeault’s glove.

Gustafsson got the Wings’ third shot off a faceoff win by Larkin deep in the Habs’ zone, and the Wings cycled well, but Holl could not contain the puck in the offensive zone, so the Larkin group regrouped and Laine and his teammates charged out and went offside 2:59 into the 1st.

The Wings had rolled their 4 lines and settled in for the game.

Detroit’s D was actively pinching to support their offensive compatriots, and DeBrincat almost snagged the puck from Mike Matheson in the offensive zone as Detroit employed an aggressive forecheck.

Alex DeBrincat forced a power play as his stick was slashed by Mike Matheson at 4:24 of the 1st.

On the power play, Kane drew in for the opening faceoff, DeBrincat got it back to Seider, Kane was stopped by Montembeault, and Raymond worked it to DeBrincat for a tight shot attempt that Montembeault also stopped…

The Wings held the second faceoff in, Raymond and Seider played catch, DeBrincat and Larkin went side-to-side and Larkin was blocked off by the Canadiens with an empty net staring him in the face, affording the Canadiens a clear;

The Wings brought the 2nd unit out with 55 left in the PP, Compher, Rasmussen, Kasper, Gustafsson and Tarasenko worked the perimeter, but the Habs cleared once, Rasmussen wrapped for Tarasenko, he sent a shot off the Hab Armia and he was blocked off on a 2-on-1 as the PP expired.

Detroit generated 2 PP shots.

Then Moritz Seider stole the puck, fed it to Jonatan Berggren in the low slot, and Berggren’s shot on goal was tipped by Joe Veleno, who made it 1-0 at 6:41.

Joe Veleno scored his 3rd goal in 3 games, making it 1-0, from Berggren and Seider.

Patrik Laine responded with a slot shot that Alex Lyon plucked out of the air with his glove;

After the first TV timeout, the Habs continued to skate through the neutral zone with speed, but Detroit was at least standing up at their own blueline, stifling the Habs’ offense to some extent.

The Habs persisted as the period progressed, forcing Detroit to dump and chase out of their own zone and into center ice, and William Carrier sent a pass to a teammate that Lagesson and Petry kept out of the net;

Buoyed by an energetic crowd, the Canadiens dominated possession and control 8:15 in, and a poke check by Rasmussen saved the Wings’ bacon as Detroit was able to change lines some 8:30 in;

Kasper, Berggren and Veleno got their signals crossed, and Patrik Laine faked out a hit that generated a penalty on Jeff Petry at 10:01. Petry sat for “interference” as Laine sold the call.

On the penalty-kill, Larkin, Chiarot, Seider and Raymond worked the first unit vs. Suzuki, Caufield, Laine and company, and Detroit cleared the puck after winning the first faceoff;

Suzuki split Seider and Chiarot, the Habs set up and Detroit gave the puck to Laine, who was blocked by Seider, whose stick was broken by Laine again.

The Habs won the offensive zone faceoff and Laine fired a shot off from “his spot at the top of the left faceoff circle” that Lyon stopped once, Laine blasted a shot wide, and Suzuki was stopped by Lyon

Motte, Compher, Chiarot and Seider were a bit gassed as the Habs worked Laine again and he fired a shot up into the netting.

The Habs concluded their power play with their grinding, gritty players, and Holl cleared the zone, Montreal regrouped and set up post-PP with 3 shots on net and more wide.

Andrew Copp got hit away from play by a Habs defenseman, yielding a big cheer for Joel Armia…

Montreal’s Anderson-Gallagher line worked vs. the Veleno-Kasper-Berggren line, and the Wings’ smallish unit got bumped and ground a bit, so Tarasenko came out to help…

Seider blubbed a pass at center ice, stumbled, and the Canadiens scored as a result. Caufield and Suzuki sent the puck to Slafkovsky standing in front of Lyon (as was Chiarot), so Lyon had no chance on the tipped shot that got past him. Montreal tied the game 1-1.

The goal read Slafkovsky from Suzuki and Hutson at 14:14, even strength. 1-1 tie.

The Habs were really playing with a ton of momentum and confidence, blocking off Kane, DeBrincat and Copp on the cycle, with Gustafsson helping, and Jake Evans just walked against the grain in the Wings’ slot and scored a softy on Lyon with 4:34 remaining in the 1st.

Evans scored from Armia and Carrier at 15:26 of the 1st. 2-1 Montreal.

Going the other way, Marco Kasper was blocked off, Veleno crashed the net and missed it, and Lagesson blasted a boomer wide as the Kasper line buzzed;

Montreal was just winning all the 1-on-1 battles and mucks for the puck, and Lyon had to make a couple of big stops, with Xhekaj jabbing Lyon after sending a shot into him, pissing off the Wings at 17:00.

Montreal was doing a fine job of getting in the Wings’ faces and making Detroit turn over pucks, pressing the Wings back into their zone and generating zone time and grind time in Detroit’s end.

Detroit didn’t seem to have an answer for the Canadiens’ play late in the 1st period.

Dylan Larkin generated a scoring chance as Dylan Larkin was held up by a Canadien, but somehow Dylan Larkin was called for interference with 1:24 remaining in the 1st.

ON the PK, Detroit cleared the first chance via a Kasper faceoff win, and the Canadiens worked the perimeter to Laine, Caufield and Suzuki and Hutson got the puck to Laine, and the Laine-shot puck went off Chiarot and behind Lyon to give the Habs a 3-1 lead with 37.5 left in the 1st.

Laine scored from Hutson and Suzuki at 19:21, PPG. The Habs were up 3-1.

Joel Armia then hit the goalpost behind Lyon tight to the end of the 1st period, and Jeff Petry was challenged to a fight by Emil Heineman as the period ended.

In the 2nd period, Detroit started the Larkin line opposite Suzuki’s line, and Detroit at least won the faceoff, chipped and chased, and Rasmussen passed back while tapping a puck into a slot, but to a Canadien, and Lyon ended up having to boot a puck away at the other end of the ice as a result.

The Wings brought out Compher, Motte and Tarasenko vs. the Laine line, and they were OK, moving the puck deep into the Habs’ zone for a couple of moments, but surrendering a break-out to Laine, who was blocked off by Gustafsson’s stick.

Copp, DeBrincat and Kane lost an offensive zone faceoff off a sketchy icing call vs. Montreal, the Wings then iced the puck, and at least Copp won the d-zone draw and DeBrincat briefly cleared the zone before the Habs chipped the puck back in, and Detroit dumped and changed;

And off a broken play, William Lagesson put the puck off Emil Heineman, he was given the puck back by a teammate, and Heineman scored to make it 4-1 Montreal with another soft goal on Lyon.

Heineman scored from Christian Dvorak at 2:40, making it 4-1 Montreal.

Rasmussen and Veleno had very spirited shifts after the goal against, with the Wings threatening Montembeault…

But Michael Rasmussen was tripped by a Canadien into Mike Matheson, and Rasmussen was penalized for falling over. Rasmussen sat at 4:10 for tripping.

On the PK, Lyon stopped Laine off a faceoff loss, Laine was blocked off by Larkin, and Seider blasted a Copp pass back down the ice;

Suzuki walked up and passed off Larkin, Holl and Chiarot cleared the zone, and Detroit changed again;

Hutson walked to center, dropped, Caufield came in and was stopped by Lyon;

The Habs set up again and Newhook was stood up by Chiarot;

Dach chipped and chased vs. Seider, who was out-manned, and Chiarot cleared the zone;

Newhook walked in and Matheson fed Dach, to Matheson and then Gallagher it went, but Chiarot made a block and Kasper could not clear, so Gallagher reversed and Detroit’s Holl and Copp killed the penalty.

Tarasenko was stifled by Montembeault on a rush;

Then Tarasenko fell over the net in a puck battle with Kaiden Guhle, and Guhle was called for “tripping” at 7:20, affording Detroit an important power play.

On the power play, Detroit lost the initial draw and Montreal cleared the zone, Evans hacked at Seider, and the Wings struggled to just set up;

Detroit’s Larkin set up, worked with Raymond and Seider, then Kane, and his shot was blocked, Larkin helped, Raymond and Seider cycled, Kane fired down low to DeBrincat and back, Seider pivoted, to Larkin, he dropped to Seider, to Larkin, for DeBrincat from Kane blocked, Larkin held, for Raymond walking deep, poked away, and Armia stole the puck, Detroit mucked behind the Habs’ net, and Kane’s pass for Seider went too far, so Lyon had to set up the PP with 25 left;

The 2nd unit came out and Kasper fed Tarasenko, Compher, Gustafsson to Tarasenko, Compher, to Gustafsson, shot wide, and the Habs cleared, ending the PP.

Berggren blasted a hard shot wide of the net on the post-PP shift with Veleno;

10:00 into the 2nd, the shots were 15-12 Montreal, score 4-1 Montreal.

Seider got blocked off, but Caufield was stood up, and Lyon stopped Slafkovsky as the Wings continued to sputter;

When play returned after a TV timeout, Montreal really over-matched the Wings, cycling with impunity in Detroit’s zone, and even Seider and Chiarot struggled vs. the Caufield line…as did Larkin, Raymond and Rasmussen.

It was just painful to watch the Habs’ second, third and fourth lines out-work and out-hustle the Wings, never mind their first line play with Detroit.

Arguably, Berggren, Kasper and Veleno were the best line on the ice…

But they were -1 as Gallagher scored the 5-1 goal on Lyon at 13:03, with Savard finding Anderson, Anderson dropping to Gallagher in the slot, and Lagesson screening Lyon.

Gallagher scored from Anderson and Savard at 13:03.

As play continued, with the Habs’ fans singing, “Ole, Ole, Ole,” coach Lalonde changed up his lines, with Lyon stopping Slafkovsky at one end…

With 2:36 left, Heineman was given a penalty for holding Rasmussen, and Detroit headed to the PP.

Kane could not hold the offensive zone off a faceoff win, so Seider set up for Kane and Raymond, but DeBrincat was stifled by Montembeault’s glove;

Larkin drew in for a faceoff he won in the o-zone and Seider’s one-timer went wide;

Raymond, DeBrincat and Kane looked on trying to center the puck through Montembeault, and that did not work for DeBrincat;

The 2nd unit came out with 1:06 left in the PP and 1:41 left in the period, and Kasper, Rasmussen, Compher, Gustafsson and Tarasenko = a Tarasenko turnover, Detroit retreating, and having to chip the puck away from Evans and Armia, who played catch with their defense before dumping the puck in on Lyon, who was able at least to draw the Habs offside.

Kasper and Gustafsson fed an offensive zone draw to Tarasenko, but he fired wide, and Kasper regained control, fed Gustafsson, his shot was stopped, and the Wings went 0-for-4 on the PP with 2 shots on their most recent effort.

The 2nd period ended with Lyon watching Laine hit Newhook, and that was that.

In the 3rd period, Detroit started the Larkin line vs. the Suzuki line, and the Wings at least pushed the puck deep before Larkin was held up and the Habs chipped and chased;

Larkin also battled into the offensive zone, but he was unable to get past Suzuki in the Habs’ zone, having been tripped. No call.

Worse, Ken Daniels reported that Ben Chiarot was not on the Red Wings’ bench…

Gustafsson was working with Seider, and the Habs got some zone time vs. the pair, yielding a Gustafsson turnover and struggles for Compher, Copp and Veleno…

Montembeault gave the puck away to Motte, but Rasmussen could not corral the puck, and the Canadiens charged away, forcing Gustafsson and Seider to defend.

Berggren was playing with Larkin and Raymond, and they cycled well, with Seider firing a shot off Montembeault’s mask;

Lyon had to come out himself to stop Christian Dvorak from breaking away vs. Justin Holl;

Gallagher found Josh Anderson one-on-one with Holl in the Wings’ end, but Holl did a tolerably well job of defending Anderson;

Seider even took a shift with Lagesson as the Wings worked 5 D;

Kasper at least got a shot off on the wing vs. Montembeault at 5:33.

Seider took a hard shot that Kasper tipped down in front of Montembeault, and it was deemed a high stick;

Lagesson got walked around by Evans, but Seider swiped the puck before Evans could score…And William Lagesson was given a penalty for “hooking” Evans at 6:06.

On the penalty-kill, Copp, Compher, Seider and Holl worked to afford Slafkovsky a red-line chance on Lyon, who fought it off;

Seider repelled the Canadiens himself once, then he cleared the zone to the line, but Suzuki held it, Hutson fed Laine, he walked down low and back, looking for a one-timer, and Seider blocked a shott with his knee;

The Habs were just trying to get Caufield a goal, too, and Lyon made a good stop on a Laine one-timer, Caufield missed, Holl coughed the puck up and the Habs cycled, Laine shot wide, and the PK was over, but the Wings needed to clear the puck, too.

Lyon made a BIG stop on a Petry kick into Anderson’s stick, but that was an unnecessary error.

Lyon was also forced to move the puck too much;

Larkin stood up to Xhekaj trying to hit him to hurt him, hitting Xhekaj instead;

As the line blender churned, we hit the halfway mark of the 3rd, and neither Detroit nor Montreal were really dialed in…

But the Canadiens were getting chances, and Detroit was struggling to get past the center ice red line.

Gallagher fed Dvorak in front, and Lyon made a big stop;

At least the clock was winding down rapidly.

Tarasenko bumped Carrier hard, and Kasper and Kane generated a good scoring chance with Kasper generating a secondary chance which was blocked as Laine stood in front of Seider;

Kasper got a good shot off on Montembeault with 7:00 remaining;

With 6:32 remaining, the Wings and Habs took a TV timeout.

When play resumed, Lyon got some help from Seider in terms of blocking shots, as well as DeBrincat, who was tough on Hutson as the d-man pinched in Detroit’s zone;

Lagesson was tripped and, after an unsuccessful 6-on-5, the Wings got a PP with 5:06 remaining. Kirby Dach got a hooking penalty.

On the power play, Compher, Kasper, Rasmussen, Gustafsson and Tarasenko worked the PP, but Detroit was unable to do much with the puck on the first foray;

Rasmussen, Gustafsson and Kasper tried to generate a shot that was blocked…

And Michael Rasmussen was called for an even-up, and after a lengthy Canadiens 6-on-5, Rasmussen sat because Jake Evans splayed out and dove. 3:34 left in the 3rd, 29 left on Detroit’s PP.

On the PK, Newhook walked in on Lyon, splitting Petry and Copp and Lagesson, but Lyon made a good stop;

Gallagher was blocked out by Copp;

The Canadiens worked the perimeter vs. Seider, Petry, Kasper and Berggren, but Seider did a good job of negating Gallagher and clearing the puck;

Petry stood up the Habs and Copp fed Motte for a mini-breakaway that was stopped by Montembeault shorthanded;

Holl and Seider then worked together, negating a Xhekaj dump-in, and killing the penalty.

Rasmussen made a BEAUTIFUL deke and dangle that was stifled by Montembeault with 36 seconds remaining;

And the Habs received cheers and the Wings were whistled at as Montreal swept Detroit to take a 1-point lead in the Atlantic Division standings.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

Published by

George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *