Montreal Canadiens lost in Detroit last night, although having a two-goal lead at the end of the first period. The Habs managed to post a loss against the worst team in the league, extending their poor series to five straight defeats.
“I can’t put my skates on and play for them,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “We need them to play 60 minutes.”
Julien’s team allowed four goals in four consecutive games, indicating that there are a lot of issues with their defense. However, what makes things very uncomfortable for the Canadiens here is the fact that they had 0-2 advantage at the end of the opening period.
Nate Thompson and Jeff Petry both scored a goal apiece to lift the Habs to a nice lead. At 5:59, since the start of the match, Thomson tapped in Nick Cousins’ assists to open the show. Petry doubled the edge 3:57 before the end of the frame with a power-play goal.
Robby Fabri managed to decrease the gap for the Red Wings, after 64 seconds of play inside the second period. For a moment, the fans inside the Little Caesars Arena thought that there might be a comeback of their favorites. But that didn’t happen. Yet.
Nick Suzuki extended the Canadiens’ lead to 3-1, using a one-timer on another power-play of the Canadiens. The start of the final period saw the hosts having a PP situation, but the guests from Montreal managed to rebuff the Red Wings’ surge in those two minutes. However, it was only temporary.
After that, the hosts scored three unanswered goals. Andreas Athanasiou cut the gap at 3-2 with 5:04 inside the third, and at 10:41, Mike Green leveled the score. It was the 150th goal for Red Wings’ defender and a 500th point.
Suddenly the momentum shifted sides, and Detroit controlled the match in this situation. Hosts were more decisive and continued to pressure Montreal’s players, who looked pretty confused on the ice. It wouldn’t take too long for the Red Wings to strike once more. Athanasiou netted against at 14:45, completing a fantastic comeback for the NHL’s worst side.
Detroit managed to defeat Montreal all four times this season, proving that they have the perfect solution for the franchise from Canada.
“It feels good to beat them all four times, because they are a good team with a very good goalie. That’s the same team that has beaten us pretty badly the last couple of years,” Dylan Larkin said following the match.
After losing four in a row, Detroit (15-43-4) posted a win, improving the morale at least for a while. Red Wings are going to New York now to meet Islanders on Friday, and after that, come back home to face the Calgary Flames on Sunday.
The Canadiens (27-27-8) are in a tough position after this loss. Their playoff race suffered a heavy setback.
“I don’t know if it is a lack of confidence or a lack of being able to play 60 minutes, but we played two good periods tonight and ended up with another lost game,” Julien told the reporters.
Up next, they have a clash with the Capitals in DC.
