Lindgren looks good as Habs stay hot
It’s inevitable that Charlie Lindgren will lose an NHL game one day, but Sunday wasn’t that day. Lindgren outdueled Corey Crawford as the Canadiens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 at the United Center. Lindgren, who was called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket on Friday to fill in for the injured Carey Price. He stopped 38 shots for his first NHL shutout and improved to 4-0 in the NHL. The win was the fifth in seven games for the Canadiens, who wrapped a four-game road swing with three wins.
Drouin breaks the ice: The goalie reigned supreme through two scoreless periods, but Jonathan Drouin gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead when he scored at 1:54 of the third period. Alex Galchenyuk got the play rolling with a crossice pass to Drouin. He had a halfstep edge on Connor Murphy as he drove to the net and beat Crawford.
Net presence pays off: Joe Morrow gave the Canadiens a 2-0 lead when he scored at 7:45 of the third period. Head coach Claude Julien has been urging his players to get in front of the net and disturb the goaltender, and that’s exactly what happened on this play. Phillip Danault chased down a pass from Andrew Shaw along the end boards. Shaw and Danault both went to the net and Shaw was screening Crawford when Morrow’s shot from the point went through his legs. Shaw assisted on Morrow’s goal and has three goals and one assist in the last three games.
Defence shuffle: Victor Mete has lost his spot as Shea Weber’s partner on the top defence pairing. Mete was used sparingly in the third period of Saturday’s game in Winnipeg and the Chicago game started with Jordie Benn alongside Weber.
Specialty items: After scoring three power-play goals in Winnipeg Saturday, the Canadiens came up empty on three opportunities. Habs penalty-killers fared a little better as they weathered three Chicago power plays without damage.
Anthem tales: Chicago’s Jim Cornelison is the absolute best regular anthem singer in the NHL — we’ll also give props to Montreal native Joe Kaiser, who makes occasional guest appearances when he’s not wowing them at New York’s Metropolitan Opera — and he delivered a bilingual version of O Canada. It was in sharp contrast to Saturday’s game in Winnipeg, where the English-only anthem ignores the role of francophones in Manitoba’s history and culture.
Home sweet home: The Canadiens will meet the expansion Vegas Golden Knights for the first time Tuesday at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio). Other games for the Canadiens this week are Thursday against the Minnesota Wild and Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres.