Christian Dvorak’s trio set the tone for the meeting and the Canadian never looked behind Tuesday at the Bell Center.
Nick Suzuki had one goal and two assists, Jake Allen turned back 22 shots and the Montreal team defeated the Detroit Red Wings 3-0 on their return home.
After concluding a four-game trip to the American West with a 1-3-0 record, the Habs started the game on Tuesday. Dvorak, Joel Armia and Artturi Lehkonen played with dynamism from the initial face-off, then Jonathan Drouin, Josh Anderson and Mike Hoffman took over with flying colors.
Suzuki finally opened the scoring moments later and the Canadian was able to hold on to that lead against a team weakened by the absences of two star strikers.
Josh Anderson and Brendan Gallagher, in an empty net, also scored for the Canadian (3-8-0), who won a second game against the Red Wings this season. Gallagher also amassed one assist and Tyler Toffoli two.
Allen was credited with a 23rd career shutout and a second this season.
Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 38 shots in front of the Red Wings net (4-4-2).
The Canadian lost the services of Jonathan Drouin in the first period, when he was hit in the face by a shot from his teammate Brett Kulak. The team said Drouin was taken to a hospital for further examinations.
Gallagher and Jeff Petry were in uniform after representing uncertain cases earlier today.
Recalled from the Laval Rocket over the past two days, forwards Michael Pezzetta and Alex Belzile took part in the game. It was Pezzetta’s first career meeting in the NHL.
Adam Brooks, Cédric Paquette (suspension) and Alexander Romanov were left out by head coach Dominique Ducharme.
The Red Wings were deprived of forwards Dylan Larkin (personal reasons) and Tyler Bertuzzi (unvaccinated).
The Canadiens play their next game on Thursday, when they host the New York Islanders.
Cannon start
With the wind in the sails, the Canadian opened the scoring after 2:06 of play. Suzuki went twice to outsmart Nedeljkovic, finally moving the strings by hitting the disc in the air.
The Habs fired the first seven shots on goal of the game, but Allen had to be vigilant when the Red Wings finally attacked. The Habs goalkeeper made a good save against rookie Lucas Raymond.
Nedeljkovic tried as best as possible to keep his team in the first half. He was smoking at the expense of Jake Evans, but he finally gave in to Anderson a second time at 9:18 of the opening.
Anderson returned to the charge late in the first half, after overtaking defender Moritz Seider, but came up against Nedeljkovic.
The Red Wings goaltender made another great save against Dvorak early in the second period, as the Canadiens forward believed he could shoot into an open net.
The Red Wings had their best chance to come back into the game midway in the second period, when they were able to play with a two-man power-play for 26 seconds. Zadina is the one who came closest to closing the gap, but he reached the post.
The third period was just a formality, as the Red Wings were unable to consistently apply pressure on the Canadiens’ defense.
Gallagher closed the books by scoring in an empty net with 121 seconds remaining.