Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and Girls…
This one is going to be a bit shorter. Only two out of the three games were played this week. Montreal ended up going 1-1-0 in those contests.
Per usual, there will be game recaps along with summaries from the contest, plus news and notes from the Canadiens.
Ready? Here we go…
Tuesday, December 14th, 2021: Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins
TXHT Game Recap: In the Steel City, the Canadiens look to snap their six game winless streak with a win over the Penguins. In the first period, Pittsburgh gets on the board after Kasperi Kapanen strikes for his seventh goal of the year. In the second, Evan Rodrigues scores a power play goal, his ninth goal of the year, to give the Pens the 2-0 lead but 14 seconds later the Habs get on the board when Jonathan Drouin scores his fifth of the year. Mike Matheson then makes it a 3-1 Pens lead with his second of the year. With three seconds left in the period, Montreal comes within a goal when Jesse Ylonen scores his first career NHL goal. In the third, Pittsburgh takes the 4-2 lead when Brian Dumoulin strikes early in the period for his first of the year. Brian Boyle then nets his third of the year as the Pens get the 5-2 win over the Habs.
Period by Period Breakdowns:
1st Period
PIT Goal: Kasperi Kapanen (7) – Assisted by Evan Rodrigues (12) – 11:08
MTL Penalty: Brett Kulak for Hooking – 2 min minor – 14:07
1st Period Stats
| Montreal – 0 | Pittsburgh – 1 | |
| Faceoffs | 9 of 17 | 8 of 17 |
| Power Play | 0 for 0 | 0 for 1 |
| Shots | 7 | 8 |
| Hits | 12 | 11 |
2nd Period
MTL Penalty: Joel Armia for Holding the Stick – 2 min minor – 1:03
MTL Penalty: Alexander Romanov for Tripping – 2 min minor – 1:20
MTL Penalty: Kale Clague for Tripping – 2 min minor – 5:55
PIT PP Goal: Evan Rodrigues (9) – Assisted by Kris Letang (17) and Jeff Carter (8) – 6:45
MTL Goal: Jonathan Drouin (5) – Assisted by Laurent Dauphin (2) – 6:59
PIT Penalty: Marcus Pettersson for Hooking – 2 min minor – 7:43
PIT Goal: Mike Matheson (2) – Assisted by Sidney Crosby (12) and Evan Rodrigues (13) – 11:27
MTL Penalty: Ben Chiarot for Holding – 2 min minor – 11:38
MTL Goal: Jesse Ylonen (1) – Assisted by Jonathan Drouin (11) – 19:57
2nd Period Stats
| Montreal – 2 | Pittsburgh – 3 | |
| Faceoffs | 15 of 36 | 21 of 36 |
| Power Play | 0 for 1 | 1 for 5 |
| Shots | 15 | 26 |
| Hits | 23 | 18 |
3rd Period
PIT Goal: Brian Dumoulin (1) – Assisted by Sidney Crosby (13) – :28
PIT Goal: Brian Boyle (3) – Unassisted – 9:38
PIT Penalty: Jeff Carter for Tripping – 2 min minor – 16:36
3rd Period Stats
| Montreal – 2 | Pittsburgh – 5 | |
| Faceoffs | 21 of 57 | 36 of 57 |
| Power Play | 0 for 2 | 1 for 5 |
| Shots | 30 | 31 |
| Hits | 29 | 22 |
Things to Work on Going Into Next Game: Play a complete game. The first period was great and then everything fell apart, taking three straight penalties to start the 2nd and everything collapsed from there.
Next Game: Thursday, December 16th vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Thursday, December 16th, 2021: Philadelphia Flyers at Montreal Canadiens
Note: This game was played behind closed doors out of caution with an ongoing rise of COVID-19 cases.
TXHT Game Recap: In front of no crowd due to COVID-19 the Montreal Canadiens would play host to the Philadelphia Flyers, and in the first period Artturi Lehkonen would strike to give the Habs the 1-0 lead. In the second period Max Willman and Jackson Cates would score to give the Flyers the 2-1 lead. Then in the third period Laurent Dauphin would score to tie the game at two and send the game to overtime. After a scoreless five minutes of extra hockey it would be Jonathan Drouin with the shootout winner to give the Canadiens the 3-2 shootout victory over the Flyers.
Period by Period Breakdowns:
1st Period
PHI Penalty: Zack MacEwen for Interference – 2 min minor – 2:33
MTL Goal: Artturi Lehkonen (4) – Assisted by Brett Kulak (6) and Alexander Romanov (4) – 5:20
PHI Penalty: Scott Laughton for Hooking – 2 min minor – 13:31
1st Period Stats
| Philadelphia – 0 | Montreal – 1 | |
| Faceoffs | ||
| Power Play | 0 for 0 | 0 for 2 |
| Shots | 8 | 19 |
| Hits | 4 | 4 |
2nd Period
PHI Goal: Max Willman (2) – Assisted by James van Riemsdyk (6) and Kevin Hayes (4) – 2:20
MTL Penalty: Joel Armia for Tripping – 2 min minor – 12:25
PHI Goal: Jackson Cates (1) – Assisted by Patrick Brown (3) and Travis Sanheim (7) – 19:00
2nd Period Stats
| Philadelphia – 2 | Montreal – 1 | |
| Faceoffs | ||
| Power Play | 0 for 1 | 0 for 2 |
| Shots | 22 | 30 |
| Hits | 7 | 16 |
3rd Period
MTL Goal: Laurent Dauphin (1) – Assisted by Ben Chiarot (2) and David Savard (7) – 14:21
3rd Period Stats
| Philadelphia – 2 | Montreal – 2 | |
| Faceoffs | 25 of 44 | 19 of 44 |
| Power Play | 0 for 1 | 0 for 2 |
| Shots | 33 | 38 |
| Hits | 13 | 22 |
Overtime
MTL Penalty: Ben Chiarot for Roughing – 2 min minor – :44
Overtime Stats
| Philadelphia – 0 | Montreal – 1 | |
| Faceoffs | 30 of 50 | 20 of 50 |
| Power Play | 0 for 2 | 0 for 2 |
| Shots | 39 | 40 |
| Hits | 13 | 22 |
Shootout Results
| Montreal | Philadelphia | |
| Round 1 | Jonathan Drouin – Goal | Sean Couturier – Save |
| Round 2 | Cole Caufield – Miss | Claude Giroux – Save |
| Round 3 | Mike Hoffman – Save | Cam Atkinson – Save |
Things to Work on Going Into Next Game: Limit the turnovers and take chances for the good.
Next Game: Saturday, December 18th vs. Boston Bruins
Saturday, December 18th, 2021: Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens
This game was postponed due to COVID-19 protocols within the Boston Bruins and out of an abundance of caution for the Montreal Canadiens
In other Canadiens news, Artturi Lehkonen was played on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols list while Joel Armia and Mathieu Perreault were placed on injured reserve. Armia and Perreault will be out of action until at least after the Christmas break.
Upcoming Contests:
Monday, December 20th: at New York Islanders, 7p ET
Wednesday, December 22nd: at New York Rangers, 7p ET
Thursday, December 23rd: at New Jersey Devils, 7p ET
The Xperience Hockey Talk 
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