The Montreal Canadiens were heading into Detroit to look to build off their overtime win against the Boston Bruins. They were hoping to get another win against a team they are directly competing with in the standings as the Red Wings were only two points behind them entering this game.
It was a very tightly contested game as the two teams were evenly matched and it wasn't until late in the second period before the first goal of the game was scored. That goal would be a power-play goal by Juraj Slafkovsky that gave Montreal a 1-0 lead heading into the final period.
However, the third period was all Red Wings as J.T. Compher scored the first goal by using his back to deflect the puck in early in the period. A turnover in the defensive zone by Mike Matheson set Alex DeBrincat up for the Red Wings go-ahead goal and Andrew Copp scored the empty net goal to secure the 3-1 win.
The Canadiens now head home for a game against the New York Islanders on Saturday and one that they are going to need two points if they hope to stay in third place in the Atlantic Division. These are some notes and takeaways from the game on Thursday night.
Jakub Dobes another solid performance in second straight start
The Montreal Canadiens went back to Jakub Dobes in net after he started for them against the Boston Bruins. It was another excellent performance by Dobes as he stopped 25 of 27 shots, and it's tough to fault him on the two goals he allowed.
The first goal was in the third period when Patrick Kane took a shot from the blue line that was well wide of the net. However, J.T. Compher was posted up and the puck would bounce off his back and into the net.
The second goal he allowed was after Matheson turned the puck over and DeBrincat was all alone and needed only one move to score the goal. While Dobes takes the loss, he made a lot of big saves that kept them in this game for most of the night.
Canadiens might have found their best defensive pairs moving forward
Ahead of the Bruins game, Martin St. Louis shuffled the defensive pairs, and the Canadiens ended up having one of their best defensive performances as of late. Martin St. Louis stuck with those pairs again for this game, and the Canadiens once again did a great job limiting scoring chances for the opposing team.
In the game against the Bruins, the Canadiens allowed only 19 scoring chances and were even better against the Red Wings with only 16 scoring chances in 5v5 situations, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It was certainly a risk for the Canadiens to split up Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson, but by putting Dobson with Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson with Jayden Struble, it has helped bring some balance to their blueline.
The performance wasn't perfect, with Mike Matheson having a horrible turnover late in the third period. However, this was probably just tied to bad luck as it was a bouncing puck that he couldn't control and Alex DeBrincat was able to get the puck and the breakaway goal.
In total, the defensive performance was good enough for the Canadiens to stick with these pairs moving forward.
Margin of error is so small at this point of the season
This was a tightly contested matchup between two teams fighting for a playoff spot, and one unlucky bounce can be all the difference. That was the case in this game, where the Canadiens played well enough to win in what essentially was a defensive battle.
For the Canadiens, that is not something that they are known for, but something they should try to build on. They certainly have the forwards to score with anyone in this league and have been one of the better scoring teams since the Olympic break.
However, once playoff hockey rolls around it is a different type of hockey and one where it is more physical, the chances are limited and they are more like the game they played tonight. One or two lucky bounces their way, it is a different story. While it is disappointing not to get the win, there are things to build off from this game.