The Canadiens played a great game in a victory over the Blackhawks

Vincent Larue
The Canadiens played a great game in a victory over the Blackhawks
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

Tonight, the Canadiens took on the Blackhawks at the Bell Centre. The Montreal team was looking to bounce back from an ugly loss to the Flyers in their last game.

Once again, the Habs played without Samuel Montembeault (traded to Laval) and defenseman Mike Matheson (upper-body injury).

Here's the Habs starting line-up, with Jakub Dobes in net:

For the visiting team, it was without young star Connor Bedard as the Hawks took on the Canadiens

Here's the Blackhawks lineup:

From the very first Blackhawks shot, the puck ended up behind Dobes and it chilled the fans. But after a challenge from the coaching staff, the goal was disallowed. Ilya Mikheyev obstructed the Habs goalie.

Even after a good start by the Montreal club, Frank Nazar redirected Matt Grzelcyk's shot into the net and opened the scoring for good this time.

Juraj Slafkovsky failed to keep a close eye on his player in the defensive zone.

Moments later, Zachary Bolduc finally scored at the Bell Centre and his reaction said a lot about how relieved he was to score at home.

He accepted Cole Caufield's pass and fired home from the slot to tie the game. A powerful shot that gave Spencer Knight little chance.

After the first period, the score was 1-1.

The second period was hotly contested, with scoring opportunities on both sides.

Brendan Gallagher thought he had given his team the lead, but, once again, the goal was challenged and… disallowed due to an offside call on entering the zone.

Often after scoring the first, the second comes quickly.

Just 20 seconds into the third period, Zachary Bolduc had the crowd on their feet again. This time, it was by redirecting Lane Hutson's shot into the top corner in spectacular fashion. On one leg!

Josh Anderson thought he had doubled the Habs' lead, but the goal was again challenged and disallowed.

The Canadiens had the wind in their sails and had several chances to score. The poor Blackhawks players fell victim to the combined prowess of Lane Hutson and Ivan Demidov.

While the entire Bell Centre believed that Owen Beck had finally scored his first goal… that will have to wait.

Spencer Knight denied Beck his first goal by pushing the puck into his own net. The goal was credited to Noah Dobson.

Arber Xhekaj wanted to replicate what P.K. Subban had achieved in the past.

On his way out of the dungeon, he managed to escape and found himself alone against Knight. The result… Xhekaj finished with all four irons in the air and the puck didn't cross the goal line.

With almost four minutes to go, the Blackhawks were bold enough to take their goalie off the ice.

Nick Suzuki made them regret that decision and scored into the empty net.

Final score: 4-1 Montreal

The Canadiens will return to action on Saturday, when they welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Bell Centre before heading home the following day.


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Canadiens alumnus David Savard spent some time with the players before the game.

The loss of Mike Matheson had a big impact on the Habs defensemen, especially Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson. Hutson had 26:19 of playing time and Noah Dobson 22:32.

The Canadiens weren't perfect defensively, and fortunately the Blackhawks lacked offensive talent. Defensive errors could have changed the story of the game.

Lane Hutson reached an important milestone. He is the first defenseman in Canadiens history to collect 60 assists in a calendar year. He collected three assists during the game.

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