Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls…welcome to the seventh weekly review of Montreal Canadiens hockey.
Three games were played this week and we’re going to take a look at the games with scoring and penalty summaries, stats from the games, what can be done to improve, and upcoming contests.
Ready? Away we go…
Tuesday, December 7th, 2021: Tampa Bay Lightning at Montreal Canadiens
TXHT Game Recap: In Montreal the Canadiens would play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning, and in the first period Pat Maroon would score for the Lightning to take the 1-0 lead. In the second period Nick Suzuki and Mike Hoffman would score to give the Habs the 2-1 lead. Then in the third period Corey Perry and Ondrej Palat would score to give the Lightning the 3-2 victory over the Canadiens.
Period by Period Summaries:
1st Period:
TB Goal: Pat Maroon (6) – Unassisted – 10:31
TB Penalty: Boris Katchouk for Holding – 2 min minor – 13:16
MTL Penalty: Ben Chiarot for Hi-sticking – 2 min minor – 16:15
2nd Period:
MTL Goal: Nick Suzuki (6) – Assisted by David Savard (6) and Jonathan Drouin (10) – 4:20
MTL Goal: Jonathan Drouin (4) – Assisted by Mike Hoffman (4) and Nick Suzuki (12) – 7:08
MTL Penalty: Alexander Romanov for Tripping – 2 min minor – 14:57
TB Penalty: Zach Bogosian for Instigator – 2 min minor – 14:57
MTL Penalty: Alexander Romanov for Fighting – 5 min major – 14:57
TB Penalty: Zach Bogosian for Fighting – 5 min major – 14:57
TB Penalty: Zach Bogosian – 10 min misconduct – 14:57
MTL Penalty: David Savard for Tripping – 2 min minor – 19:12
3rd Period:
MTL Penalty: Nick Suzuki for Hooking – 2 min minor – 9:23
TB Goal: Corey Perry (6) – Assisted by Steven Stamkos (16) and Victor Hedman (22) – 17:51
TB Goal: Ondrej Palat (7) – Assisted by Alex Killorn (13) and Anthony Cirelli (9) – 19:22
Period by Period Statistical Summary:
| 1st Period Stats | TB – 1 | MTL – 0 |
| Faceoffs | 7 | 8 |
| Power Play | 0/1 | 0/1 |
| Shots | 7 | 9 |
| Hits | 8 | 4 |
| 2nd Period Stats | TB – 1 | MTL – 2 |
| Faceoffs | 16 | 16 |
| Power Play | 0/2* (1:12 left on PP) | 0/0 |
| Shots | 18 | 15 |
| Hits | 11 | 12 |
| 3rd Period Stats | TB – 3 | MTL – 2 |
| Faceoffs | 24 | 25 |
| Power Play | 0/3 | 0/1 |
| Shots | 42 | 34 |
| Hits | 14 | 18 |
Things to Work on Going Into Next Matchup: Clean up the turnovers and close out the game. Everything went fine until the Habs collapsed in the last three minutes of the contest
Next Matchup: Thursday, December 9th vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Thursday, December 9th: Chicago Blackhawks at Montreal Canadiens
TXHT Game Recap: In Montreal we would have an Original Six matchup as the Canadiens would play host to the Chicago Blackhawks, and after a scoreless first period Jonathan Toews would score his first of the season to give the Blackhawks the 1-0 lead. Then in the third period Henrik Borgstrom would score to give the Blackhawks the 2-0 victory over the Canadiens.
Period by Period Summary:
1st Period:
CHI Penalty: Kirby Dach for Tripping – 2 min minor – 5:55
2nd Period:
MTL Penalty: Brett Kulak for Holding – 2 min minor – 6:09
MTL Penalty: Kale Clague for Hooking – 2 min minor – 13:11
CHI PP Goal: Jonathan Toews (1) – Assisted by Seth Jones (20) and Patrick Kane (15) – 13:48
3rd Period:
CHI Goal: Henrik Borgstrom (2) – Unassisted – 12:00
Period by Period Statistical Summary:
| 1st Period Stats | CHI – 1 | MTL – 0 |
| Faceoffs | 7 | 8 |
| Power Play | 0/0 | 0/1 |
| Shots | 13 | 12 |
| Hits | 10 | 10 |
| 2nd Period Stats | CHI – 1 | MTL – 0 |
| Faceoffs | 16 | 16 |
| Power Play | 1/2 | 0/1 |
| Shots | 21 | 18 |
| Hits | 19 | 16 |
| 3rd Period Stats | CHI – 2 | MTL – 0 |
| Faceoffs | 24 | 25 |
| Power Play | 1/2 | 0/1 |
| Shots | 25 | 30 |
| Hits | 24 | 23 |
Things to Work on Going Into Next Matchup: Not much else can be said here. A shutout loss is never a good thing, especially to a team that near the bottom of the standings.
Next Matchup: Saturday, December 11th at St. Louis Blues
Saturday, December 11th, 2021: Montreal Canadiens at St. Louis Blues
TXHT Game Recap: In St. Louis the Blues would take on the Montreal Canadiens, and in the first period Pavel Buchnevich would score to give the Blues the 1-0 lead. In the second period Dakota Joshua would score his first goal of the season and a tally from Ivan Barbashev would grow the Blues lead to three. Then in the third period Alexander Romanov would strike early for the Habs, but Torey Krug would strike to give the Blues the 4-1 victory over the Canadiens.
Period by Period Summary:
1st Period:
STL Goal: Pavel Buchnevich (11) – Assisted by Vladimir Tarasenko (14) and Ryan O’Reilly (11) – 1:03
2nd Period:
MTL Penalty: Cole Caufield for Slashing – 2 min minor – 1:51
STL Goal: Dakota Joshua (1) – Assisted by Logan Brown (2) and Matthew Peca (1) – 8:52
MTL Penalty: Michael Pezzetta for Holding – 2 min minor – 14:28
STL PP Goal: Ivan Barbashev (10) – Assisted by Vladimir Tarasenko (15) and Pavel Buchnevich (12) – 15:20
3rd Period:
MTL Goal: Alexander Romanov (2) – Assisted by Ryan Poehling (1) and Laurent Dauphin (1) – 1:57
STL Penalty: Torey Krug for Interference – 2 min minor – 5:19
MTL Penalty: Mike Hoffman for Hooking – 2 min minor – 8:51
STL PP Goal: Torey Krug (4) – Assisted by Ryan O’Reilly (12) and Logan Brown (3) – 10:16
Period by Period Statistical Summary:
| 1st Period Stats | MTL – 0 | STL – 1 |
| Faceoffs | 3 | 10 |
| Power Play | 0/0 | 0/0 |
| Shots | 6 | 12 |
| Hits | 18 | 8 |
| 2nd Period Stats | MTL – 0 | STL – 3 |
| Faceoffs | 11 | 15 |
| Power Play | 0/0 | 1/2 |
| Shots | 12 | 23 |
| Hits | 24 | 14 |
| 3rd Period Stats | MTL – 1 | STL – 4 |
| Faceoffs | 23 | 23 |
| Power Play | 0/1 | 2/3 |
| Shots | 23 | 37 |
| Hits | 35 | 16 |
Things to Work on Going Into Next Matchup: At this point, just throw stuff against the wall and see what sticks and works. Upon the conclusion of this contest, the Canadiens are 6-20-3 (15 pts) and have the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
Next Matchup: Tuesday, December 14th at Pittsburgh Penguins
In other Canadiens news, it was announced on Saturday, December 11th that Tyler Toffoli underwent hand surgery and will be out 6-8 weeks.
Upcoming Contests:
Tuesday, December 14th, 2021: Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins, 7p ET
Thursday, December 16th, 2021: Philadelphia Flyers at Montreal Canadiens, 7p ET
Saturday, December 18th, 2021: Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens, 7p ET
The Xperience Hockey Talk 
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