After a heavy defeat on Thursday against the Panthers, the Canadiens were back in action tonight against the Detroit Red Wings.
Jake Allen was in net for the occasion. Let’s take a look at the rest of the line-up for both teams:
Red Wings starting Sprong-Veleno-Perron up front, with Chiarot and Petry on the point, and Husso in goal. pic.twitter.com/l39uirRBxF
– George Malik (@georgemalik) December 2, 2023
Ben Chiarot and Jeff Petry were back at the Bell Centre.
The evening began with a chorus of “Olé Olé Olé”. Not because the Canadiens were heading for victory, but because Montreal’s champions were on hand.
The Alouettes were honoured.
Champions in the house! Congratulations to the Als on winning the 2023 Grey Cup 🏆
The champs are here! Congrats to the @MTLAlouettes for winning the 2023 Grey Cup #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/0yNYtQZEWe
– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) December 3, 2023
But the Canadiens didn’t look like champions at the start of the game. Martin St-Louis’ team allowed three unanswered goals.
First, Montreal’s Joe Veleno broke the ice.
Oh how happy Joe Veleno was to score at the Bell Centre! #TVASports #LGRW pic.twitter.com/mP965CI3fW
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) December 3, 2023
Then, Christian Fischer, shorthanded, doubled the visitors’ lead.
This is fairly embarrassing. Not only did the Habs allow the Red Wings to have a shorthanded breakaway, but the Red Wings were also first to the rebound. pic.twitter.com/HRXPpTNmnS
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023
And with less than a minute to go, Daniel Sprong, who changed his number in the last few days, foiled Jake Allen for a third time.
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Honestly, we need to get rid of the 34…
New number. Same Daniel Sprong. 💥 pic.twitter.com/daa4WYf7DC
– Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) December 3, 2023
Montreal didn’t go back to the dressing room behind 0-3, however, because they scored.
Justin Barron found the back of the net for the fifth time this season.
And the goal!
Justin Barron scores after Nick Suzuki takes a quick shot.
3-1 Red Wings. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/GJ3MPBUAY5
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023
He made up for his blunder on the Wings’ second goal.
Early in the second period, Jake Allen awarded another penalty goal.
But the result wasn’t what you’d expect. In fact, it was Joel Armia who took advantage of this numerical inferiority to score.
Joel Armia steals the puck shorthanded and scores with a perfect shot. Big goal for the #Habs.
3-2 Red Wings. pic.twitter.com/WSeZtwJCcv
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023
But Alex DeBrincat doubled his team’s lead on the same power play. It was his 200th career goal.
4-2 after all that.
Debrincat scores his 13th goal of the year. 4-2 Red Wings pic.twitter.com/kdLrijM0VT
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023
Allen did his best to keep the team in the game.
Late in the second frame, he stole a goal from Dylan Larkin.
Larkin could have done much better but still a good save by Allen. pic.twitter.com/vzDzjwHPgf
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023
Early in the third, Nick Suzuki ended a 10-game scoreless streak.
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And the goal was scored on the power play. The first goal in 28 opportunities under similar circumstances.
Finally!
Nick Suzuki scores! On the powerplay!
4-3 Red Wings, but the Habs have the momentum now. Or, for now. pic.twitter.com/vQGQmYikhB
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023
And with less than five minutes left in the game, Gustav Lindstrom, against his former teammates, brought everyone back to square one.
Heading for overtime.
GUSTAV LINDSTROM REVENGE TOUR! pic.twitter.com/c1DyroJtSU
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023
Detroit didn’t take long to win, however.
Jake Walman gave his team the win with a shot from quite a distance. The CH didn’t touch the puck in overtime…
Walman wins it for the Red Wings in overtime. pic.twitter.com/ilknFIhVgx
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023
Final score: 5-4 Wings.
The Kraken will be the Canadiens’ next opponent on Monday at the Bell Centre.
Extension
– The Crew are Eastern champions.
Made the East their own. 😤@ColumbusCrew: Your 2023 Eastern Conference champions! #Crew96 pic.twitter.com/65RTrAXrdH
– Major League Soccer (@MLS) December 3, 2023
– 28 years ago today, Patrick Roy scored nine goals against the Wings. The rest is history…
They clearly win the fans of the game award! 😂👏 pic.twitter.com/m1Mp76vpUZ
– RDS (@RDSca) December 3, 2023
– We can add Justin Barron to this list.
Goals this season:
Alex Ovechkin – 5
Sam Lafferty – 5 pic.twitter.com/XzptaZkxg8– Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) December 3, 2023
– Yikes…
Josh Anderson’s holding penalty. Bit odd this one. pic.twitter.com/FiIopnvbKO
– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 3, 2023