Montreal Canadiens suffered a third period collapse to the Washington Capitals.
By Rick Stephens, Rocket Sports, Montreal Canadiens Blogger
For daily updates on the Montreal Canadiens follow @RocketSports on X.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 3 vs Washington Capitals 6 | FINAL
Canadiens record: 4-6-1 | 9 points (25th in NHL)
Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
13 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 51 Emil Heineman
15 Alex Newhook - 77 Kirby Dach - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
11 Brendan Gallagher - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson
40 Joel Armia - 28 Christian Dvorak - 91 Oliver Kapanen
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - Kaiden Guhle
48 Lane Hutson - 58 David Savard
47 Jayden Struble - Justin Barron
Goaltenders
Starter: 30 Cayden Primeau
Alternate: 35 Sam Montembeault
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Michael Pezzetta, Arber Xhekaj
Injuries: Carey Price, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Patrik Laine
Game Report
If you were following the Canadiens - Capitals game by checking the boxscore on your phone, you may have assumed it was evenly played for the first 40 minutes. But while the score was tied, Washington had a wide advantage in 5-on-5 shot attempts: 40-17 after the second period. And higher danger scoring attempts were 11-2 for the Caps (5-on-5, Natural Stat Trick).
The domination on the stat sheet continued in the third period and the goals followed for Washington. In the end, the Canadiens suffered another lopsided defeat, something that is becoming commonplace this season.
Montreal is giving up two many goals, an average of 4.18 per game, which is at the bottom of the league. Set aside the opening night shutout in Toronto and the average goals allowed per game ballons to 4.60. The Canadiens are awful in their own zone - Mike Matheson, Jayden Struble and David Savard all struggled on Thursday night - and they aren't getting saves when they need them from either goaltender.
Looking for positives, we can point to Cole Caufield who scored the 10th goal of the season. Nick Suzuki continues to add assists to his point total. Suzuki also scored his fourth goal of the season. Kirby Dach didn't have a point but he is starting to look better.
Lane Hutson assisted on two of the three Canadiens goals and continues to bring a dynamic presence to every shift. Brendan Gallagher picked up his fourth goal of the season.
Following the game, much of the disappointment and anger from Habs fans was aimed at Marty St. Louis. The head coach was first out of the gate for post-game interviews, not taking any time to dial-back the temperature on his emotions.
"In the third (period), we vomited on ourselves. It's simple," said St. Louis, speaking in French.
"It's certain that we have a group that is fragile at the moment," he continued. "But we're doing it to ourselves. We're sticking our finger in our throats. Do you understand? It's not food poisoning."
Quick hits
⦁ The Canadiens managed just 16 shots on goal in three periods of play, including a 5-on-3 power play.
⦁ In perhaps the highlight of the night for Habs fans, Josh Anderson dropped tom Wilson to the ice after a flurry of blows.
⦁ Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron both returned to the lineup after being sidelined with injuries.
Up Next
The Canadiens spent the night in Washington, D.C. and will practice at the Capital One Arena on Friday. They will then head to Pittsburgh for a Saturday night matchup with the Penguins.
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