Excerpt from 'Habs Hockey Report' of host Amy Johnson commenting on the proposed rule changes or updates coming out of the 2024 NHL GMs meeting. GAME RECAP | MONTREAL CANADIENS 1 VS VANCOUVER CANUCKS 4 | FINAL CANADIENS LINEUP Forwards 22 Cole Caufield - 14 Nick Suzuki - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky 49 Rafael Harvey-Pinard - 15 Alex Newhook - 40 Joel Armia 11 Brendan Gallagher - 71 Jake Evans - 17 Josh Anderson 55 Michael Pezzetta - 36 Colin White - 70 Tanner Pearson Defensemen 8 Mike Matheson - 54 Jordan Harris 21 Kaiden Guhle - 26 Johnathan Kovacevic 72 Arber Xhekaj - 58 David Savard Goaltenders Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault Alternate: 30 Cayden Primeau Out of the lineup Scratches: Jesse Ylonen, Jayden Struble Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), Christian Dvorak (upper body), Joshua Roy (hand) HABS HOCKEY REPORT [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGInHbmumPY[/embed] GAME REPORT The Canadiens realized that they would be in tough against the top team in the Western Conference. Early on they fared well trading chances with Vancouver. But following a string of three Montreal penalties midway through the first period, the momentum started to change in favor of the home squad. Nikita Zadorov scored twice in a four minute span before the end of the period to give the Canucks a 2-0 lead to open the second frame. The Canadiens struggled to cope with Vancouver's forecheck pressure. Clean zone breakouts were rare from the visitors. The Canadiens could not sustain pressure in the offensive zone with Vancouver stifling their ability to generate offense five-on-five. But Montreal could not take advantage of three power play opportunities in the middle frame either. Connor Garland and Juraj Slafkovsky traded goals towards the end of the period, as Vancouver maintained their two-goal lead heading into the third period. The Canucks relentless pressure smothered the Canadiens in the final frame, managing just three shots on goal. In addition to failing to produce offense, Montreal did not receive adequate goaltending. Sam Montembeault has lost six starts in a row and nine of his last ten. Prior to the game the Canadiens announced that Joshua Roy will miss four to six weeks with an upper body injury. Roy injured his right hand blocking a shot against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. GAME STATISTICS Canadiens (25-32-12) Shots: 17 Face-off %: 54.0 Power play: 0/3 Penalty minutes: 10 Hits: 24 Blocks: 18 Canucks (44-18-8) Shots: 25 Face-off %: 46.0 Power play: 0/4 Penalty minutes: 8 Hits: 40 Blocks: 12 SCORING SUMMARY Canadiens Scorers 1st period: -- 2nd period: Slafkovsky (15) 3rd period: -- OT: -- SO: -- Canucks Scorers 1st period: Zadorov (5), Zadorov (6) 2nd period: Garland (15) 3rd period: Aman (3) OT: -- SO: -- Goaltenders MTL: Montembeault (L) 13-13-7 VAN: DeSmith (W) 10-5-6 CANADIENS PLAYERS OF THE GAME Jordan Harris - Harris started the game on the top pairing and played 18:20. He was a plus-1 and led the Canadiens with five blocked shots. Juraj Slafkovsky - Slafkovsky scored the only Montreal goal of the game. VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0HbWx1mfg4[/embed] POST-GAME QUOTES Trevor Letowski "The first eight to 10 minutes were our best in the game before we took the first penalty. The three penalties slowed us down. They didn't score, but it affected the game." "We couldn't generate enough. We had no answers offensively. They have been consistent. We knew it was coming, but we realized that they are a good team. They played well." UP NEXT The Canadiens will be in Seattle to face the Kraken on Sunday night. Game time is 9:00 pm. EDT. Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal [https://thn.com/montreal] for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world. The Hockey News: Pick A Free Issue! [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNTk3MTk4Mzc0MTE4Nzc2/hockeynewsad.jpg] The Hockey News: Pick A Free Issue!
