About last night: a weekend in SoCal to forget about the Habs

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The Montreal Canadiens ended their weeklong West Coast trip with a 4-2 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on Halloween Sunday. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf became the team’s all-time points leader with 989 with an assist on Troy Terry’s winning goal. Backup Samuel Montembeault made 22 saves in the loss. The Habs finished 1-3 on the trip.

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Before game time, there was some intrigue in the squad. The team announced that Mathieu Perreault will miss two to three weeks with an eye injury, and Adam Brooks will take his place. Chris Wideman replaced Sami Niku, and both Jeff Petry and Brendan Gallagher were game-time decisions. After the opening skating, Petry stayed inside and Gallagher scratched himself. With few bodies available, Jake Evans returned to the lineup after missing three games with an undisclosed injury.

The Canadiens ran into penalty problems shortly after the opening disc fell. With Brett Kulak in the box to hold on, at 3:39 on the first Adam Henrique was the man who triggered the Ducks’ triangle formation. His shot from the slot beat Montembeault to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead. The Habs have given up the first goal in seven of 10 games this season.

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The Canadiens tied him up shortly after with a power play marker of their own. In the offensive zone tie that followed after Sam Carrick was penalized for interference, Mike Hoffman wasted no time shooting a single half from the top of the circle to tie his team 1-1. It was his room as a Hab.

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Midway through the first, Cedric Paquette hit Trevor Zegras from behind along the boards. The young Anaheim center was left on the ground and bled, while Paquette was given a more than five minutes for tackling and misconduct in the game. After giving up three power play goals against the Kings on Saturday, the Habs couldn’t afford to spend more time on penalties.

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The ducks made the Canadians pay. During the five-minute power play, Henrique sent a quick one-touch cross pass to Vinni Lettieri, who fell to one knee and hit on the only timer to regain the Ducks’ lead at 2-1. The Habs still had time in the Paquette major when they took another penalty, but held on to kill the 5 on 3.

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Trevor Zegras returned for the beginning of the second period. After weathering two more penalties, the Canadians made their way back. Upon his return, Evans was on the doorstep of rebounding off a Jeff Petry shot to tie the game with less than two minutes remaining in the second. It’s hard to believe, but it was also Petry’s first point of the season.

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The Canadiens entered the third period tied and with a chance to finish their tour of the West with a 2-2 record. Midway through the final frame, the veteran Getzlaf cunningly redirected an extended pass into the neutral zone to Terry. He then quickly passed an Alexander Romanov nosedive before beating Montembeault with a backhand deke. The historic goal gave Getzlaf one more point in his Ducks career than Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne, and it also proved to be a deal breaker for the Habs. Getzlaf’s colleagues harassed him afterward.

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With Montembeault out for an extra skater, Carrick finished the game with an empty net goal to make it 4-2. The Habs could only muster 18 shots on Christopher Gibson. After finishing the month of October with a 2-8 record, the Canadiens return home for a week-long list of games at the Bell Center, beginning Tuesday against Detroit. The news about the conditions of Brendan Gallagher and perhaps Jeff Petry may precede Tuesday’s game.

The Habs also lost the network a lot, which was something Liveblog commenters noted. The cheats or traffickers who rang the bells proved to be a welcome distraction from the loss.

3. “Wow, 18 shots at the net. 2 and 8. Wow, we can use Price now. And players who can hit the net. Gally, Armia, Toffoli, Leks need to get on the board. Caufield CAN REALLY USE A STINT AHL. “-Chris James

2. “Canadians ate by proving that all hockey experts were right. They are who they thought they were, a bad team that lost too many players last year that they couldn’t afford to lose and never replaced them properly. ” -Ryan Katz

1. “Why does it seem like we always play against a team that has something to prove, or a team that is doing everything possible for a player who has something to prove?” -Carin Latzel