The Canadian looked bad in front of his fans for a second game in a row and this time he didn’t have the excuse of playing against one of the best teams in the NHL.
David Perron had two goals and an assist, Ville Husso stopped 23 shots and the Detroit Red Wings crushed Montreal 5-0 on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
The Habs were thus cleared for a second game in a row. He lost 3-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
Martin St-Louis’ troops were outshot 50-14 against the Hurricanes. If the shots were better shared on Tuesday, the result was just as embarrassing.
The Canadian (30-42-6) lacked cohesion throughout the game and generated very few quality scoring opportunities. He suffered a fourth consecutive loss.
Called up from the Laval Rocket for the game, Cayden Primeau was left plagued for the Red Wings. He made 16 saves.
Lucas Raymond, Matt Luff and Joe Veleno were the other scorers for the Red Wings (35-33-9). Olli Maatta and Jordan Oesterle each had two assists.
Forward Chris Tierney and defender Corey Schueneman had been inserted into the Canadiens’ lineup, taking over from Alex Belzile (fractured leg) and Jordan Harris (lower body).
The Canadiens will host the Washington Capitals on Thursday at the Bell Centre.
Of fuel
The Habs quickly found themselves on the power play and Sean Farrell missed a great opportunity to open the scoring. He sliced through the air on a return after a powerful one-timer from Mike Matheson.
The Red Wings scored on their first shot on goal of the game, after 4:55 of play. Raymond beat Primeau with a precise shot during an overrun attack.
Perron returned to the charge at 10:09. He escaped, then faked before beating Primeau with a backhand.
The Red Wings continued to widen the gap in the second period. Luff made it 3-0 after 7:12 of play, taking advantage of a loose puck in the slot.
Moments later, Dominik Kubalik reached the post to the right of Primeau. Joel Armia put in a fine individual effort on the counterattack, but Husso easily stopped the Finn’s low shot after he mocked rookie defender Simon Edvinsson.
Nick Suzuki came to Primeau’s rescue during a four-on-four streak. He swept the puck out of harm’s way just before it crossed the goal line, after Pius Suter pushed a return past the American goaltender.
A little later on the same sequence, Jonathan Drouin was able to fire a one-timer shot from the slot. Husso, however, managed the save, while the shot was more powerful than precise.
Veleno dealt another blow to the Canadian by widening the gap to 4-0 with 1:40 to go in the second period. Left alone in front of Primeau, he deflected a shot from Jake Walman during a Red Wings power play.
Perron added on in the third period, making it 5-0 at 7:26. As the crowd grew impatient, he deflected a Maatta throw-in behind Primeau.
The few spectators still present at the end of the match welcomed the announcement of the last minute of play with mocking cries of joy.