Canadiens Postgame
Habs Highlights: Memories Of Early-Season Canadiens Games

The Montreal Canadiens were in Detroit on Thursday night, facing the Red Wings at the Little Caesars Arena.
The original-six matchup marked an important milestone for three different players, as Brendan Gallagher reached 800 games, whereas Christian Dvorak and Patrik Laine hit the 500-game mark.
Head coach Martin St-Louis decided to stick with his veteran goaltender, giving Samuel Montembeault the nod in consecutive games.
The decision did not pay off, as the Red Wings emerged with a well-deserved 4-2 win. That being said, even Jakub Dobes would have struggled to salvage the game with the low effort level provided by the Habs in Detroit.
Let’s dive into the highlights!
Memories Of October
Even though the Canadiens are among the hottest teams in the NHL, not every game will be a masterpiece. Thursday’s match-up was proof, as the Red Wings set the tone by dominating the scoring chances at 5v5 in the first period (3-1). This led to three consecutive Detroit goals, and you’d be hard-pressed to argue anyone on the team looked good.
Have you ever put a Kraft Singles slice in the microwave for a few seconds? Well, that’s about how solid the Canadiens were versus the Red Wings.
I know this will fall on deaf ears for the most part, but we should probably avoid piling on too much criticism on the few veterans in the lineup whenever something goes wrong.
You can point to different players, and in some cases you’d be right, but the Canadiens, as a team, laid an egg versus the Red Wings. For example, they failed to convert on all three of their powerplays. To make matters worse, they hardly threatened to shoot while they had the man-advantage.
The good news is that Kirby Dach’s 10th goal of the year cut the lead to just two, but that did not last long, as the Red Wings quickly re-established their three-goal lead on the powerplay.
Larkin finishes on the power play in game 700! #LGRW pic.twitter.com/YiY1igVid4
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) January 24, 2025
A Sliver Of Hope
The Canadiens avoided heading to the second intermission down by three when Laine put together a very nice play that eventually led to Kaiden Guhle’s fourth goal of the year.
It’s a continuation of his improved play at 5v5, a phenomenon that has spread throughout the second line. For the record, Dach, Laine, and Alex Newhook formed the only line that was not outplayed by a wide margin versus the Red Wings.
At the very least, it gave the Canadiens some life as they faced the prospect of mounting yet another late-game comeback that was never to be.
Slick moves from Patrik Laine set up this Kaiden Guhle goal. #GohabsGo pic.twitter.com/vleoAGy1zX
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 24, 2025
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Saturday. They will host the New Jersey Devils at the Bell Centre, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
Well i guess its time to trade all the pending ufas, fire MSL and send hutson a xhekaj to laval…