HABS STYMIE MCDAVID, OILERS
4-1 win puts them alone in 1st place
The Canadiens ended their three-game Western Canada road trip with a 4-1 win over the Oilers on Sunday night at Rogers Place.
It wasn’t as easy as the final score made it look for the Canadiens, who were trailing 1-0 on a second-period goal by Milan Lucic and struggling to score — yet again — when Paul Byron tied it up at the 13:33 mark of the third period. Alex Galchenyuk scored the winner at the 14:42 mark when he deflected a Max Pacioretty shot from the side boards past goalie Cam Talbot. Byron then scored into an empty net with 1:07 left on the clock and Pacioretty scored another emptynetter after that.
The Canadiens finished the trip with a 2-1-0 record following a 2-1 overtime win in Vancouver and a 5-0 loss in Calgary.
The Canadiens outshot the Oilers 41-25 as goalie Carey Price extended his personal winning streak to six games. Price missed the Calgary game because of the flu.
The win moved the Canadiens back into sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division, two points ahead of Ottawa. The Senators hold two games in hand.
Another slow start: After only five shots on goal in the first period of Thursday’s loss in Calgary, the Canadiens had only three shots midway through the first period against the Oilers. They picked things up after that, outshooting the Oilers 14-6 in the first 20 minutes.
Fight night: The Canadiens’ Mike McCarron and the Oilers’ Darnell Nurse dropped the gloves 5:15 into the first with both players throwing wild punches but unable to really connect. The players’ chinstraps took the worst of the fight as both helmets got ripped off.
Another minus for Emelin: After going minus-3 against the Flames, Canadiens defenceman Alexei Emelin lost the puck to Lucic at centre ice early in the second period and the Oilers forward broke in on Price, beating him five-hole. Coming into the game, Price had a career record of 1-6-1 vs. the Oilers with a 3.75 goals-against average and .856 save percentage.
Line juggling: Canadiens coach Claude Julien mixed up his lines in the second period after starting out with Pacioretty playing with Phillip Danault and Andrew Shaw. Julien put Galchenyuk at centre on a new No. 1 line with Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov. Danault dropped down to centre Byron and Shaw.
Byron ties it up: Byron tied it when he took a Danault pass from the corner behind the goal line, cut past three Oilers defenders to the net and beat Talbot low to the stick side. Familiar face: Former Canadien David Desharnais played his first game against his old team since being traded to Edmonton on Feb. 28 for defenceman Brandon Davidson, who was a healthy scratch in favour of Emelin.
What’s next: The Canadiens will enjoy a day off Monday in Montreal. Their next game is Tuesday when the Chicago Blackhawks visit the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., SNE, RDS, TSN Radio 690).