Lindgren laments ‘frustrating’ trip
Goalie gave up 16 goals in 3 losses on road as Canadiens return home to face Dallas
COLUMBUS, OHIO During the Canadiens’ morning skate Monday at Nationwide Arena, former Hab Sergio Momesso joked he was going to defuse the cannon that goes off each time the Blue Jackets score a goal — even posing for a photo pretending to do it.
Momesso is now a colour commentator for Canadiens games on TSN Radio 690 and knows from previous visits to Columbus that the loud sound of the cannon going off in his headset can almost make his ears explode.
The Canadiens and goalie Charlie Lindgren must wish Momesso really did defuse the cannon after Monday night’s 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets to end their six-game road trip with a 1-3-2 record. Brendan Gallagher and Jonathan Drouin scored for the Canadiens, while Jacob de la Rose was on the ice for every Columbus goal — including two on the power play.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
“It was pretty loud … it’s louder than I thought it was,” Lindgren said after giving up the five goals — including three in the first period — on 25 shots during his first game in Columbus.
“But it’s a rowdy building, too, and those buildings are fun to play in. I enjoy playing in those type of buildings, but I heard it too many times tonight. That’s the disappointing part.”
It was a disappointing road trip for Lindgren, who was 0-3-0 while allowing 16 goals.
“I just got to keep on working hard,” the 24-year-old said. “It’s obviously a pretty frustrating road trip, way too many goals. It’s really unacceptable. I got to turn the page. I’m not worried about confidence at all. I still got confidence, I know I can play well. I just got to worry about the next game now. Adversity is a good thing … it’s how you respond to it. So I expect to respond in the right way, in a positive way and become better because of it.”
Sergei Bobrovsky was the much better goalie on this night, stopping 38 of the 40 shots the Canadiens fired at him, including 24 in the third period.
“He battles hard and competes,” Lindgren said about Bobrovsky. “He’s one of the best goalies in the league for a reason. I think you saw that tonight. I look forward to going up against that challenge (again), but unfortunately I came out on the wrong end of it. But I look forward to more meetings against him.”
Things don’t get easier for the injury-riddled Canadiens, who returned home after the game and will face Dallas Tuesday night at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN Radio 690) in Alexander Radulov’s first game back in Montreal since signing with the Stars as a free agent last summer. The Stars enjoyed a day off Monday in Montreal.
“You got a team waiting at home for you,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “You’re coming off a 12-day road trip and you’ve played six games on the road. We all know how tough that first game back home is and not only that, but you got a team that’s going to be waiting for you that’s going to be fresh. So we’re going to be challenged again.
“We can’t control that, we can’t just use excuses. We just got to battle through it. And battling through it to me is just building character in a lot of these guys. That’s what we got to strive for is go out there and give it a good effort.
“Hopefully we start the game tomorrow night like we did in the third (period). But it’s going to be a 60-minute grind for a tired team.”
Antti Niemi will be in goal for the Canadiens against Dallas.
At least he won’t hear a cannon go off each time the Stars score at the Bell Centre.