Game 33: Montreal Canadiens vs. Detroit Red Wings
Start time: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: CityTV, Sportsnet East (English), TVA Sports (French)
In the Red Wings region: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit
Streaming: ESPN+, RDS, TSN+
A close game was expected between the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings in their first meeting of the season, and that’s what we saw at Little Caesars Arena. In the end it was a comeback regulation win for Montreal after falling behind 3-2 in the third period. There was a time when Montreal would have folded after seeing a late second-period goal and then another early in the third, and that time was nine days ago, but now that they’re never more than a drawn penalty away from a Patrik Laine goal, they can have faith in a comeback effort.
The win moved the Habs within a point of the Red Wings, and now, with the two teams moving to the Bell Centre for a rematch tonight, they’ve earned the chance to jump over a second Atlantic Division team in the span of a week should they get a third win in a row. That’s the result the home team will be looking for in the final game in Montreal until January 6.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Red Wings |
|---|---|---|
| 13-16-3 | Record | 13-15-4 |
| 47.7% (27th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 47.1% (28th) |
| 2.84 (22nd) | Goals per game | 2.69 (25th) |
| 3.63 (31st) | Goals against per game | 3.19 (25th) |
| 22.6% (12th) | PP% | 23.7% (9th) |
| 81.7% (10th) | PK% | 67.4% (31st0 |
| 1-0-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 0-1-0 |
Overall, last night’s win was a very good effort from start to finish, but the main reason why Detroit was able to keep it close were a few defensive errors from the pairing of Lane Hutson and Mike Matheson. There’s little questioning their offensive abilities, and they were on the ice for more chances than they allowed, but the ones they did surrender came from being too concerned about offence, and they both ended up a -2 despite each claiming a point in the contest.
Given how well Alexandre Carrier played in his debut alongside Kaiden Guhle, the option is there to place the newly acquired defenceman alongside one of the top offensive options. Martin St-Louis doesn’t often mess with a winning lineup, but he may feel that there’s a chance to play even better than last night with a more balanced defensive lineup.
The Canadiens should be expecting a better performance from Detroit tonight. The Red Wings had won three of their previous four games, so a sweep would be an unexpected outcome from this weekend’s series. More should be anticipated from Detroit’s top line, which was held to a single point last night. Odds are it will be a sterner test for the home side.
