Game 4: Canadiens 2, Red Wings 4

The Canadiens, playing a second game in two nights, and having flown back from Buffalo in the wee hours, lacked a bit of pep, of spring in their stride, of cohesion, and fell to the rebuilding Wings 4-2.

Vidéo RDS en français ici.

La formation projetée du match de ce soir.

The projected lines for tonight's game.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/MaqCV0CWII

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 10, 2019

Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said his team wasn't sharp, but didn't want to say it was due to fatigue.

The boys on l'Antichambre said that luck, which had been on the Canadiens' side for the first three games, caught up with them tonight.

Same with Pierre Houde and Marc Denis in their post-game analysis, their thesis was that the Canadiens were playing with fire again tonight, and this time got burned.

Anthony Mantha continued his hot streak, scoring a beautiful goal on a great shot, and hitting a crossbar on another.  He's also very noticeable in other ways, something which maybe wasn't the case in seasons past.  We saw him tonight jostle with Ben Chiarot, and he wasn't the meek scorer being pushed around, he rather was the cocky big forward not taking any guff from anyone.  He seems to be that late-bloomer who took a while to grow into his large frame, the gangly Great Dane puppy who took an extra long while to become a dog.

Joel Armia, who I criticized in camp and in the first game of the season as a player who was invisible even with his being the biggest forward on the team, seems to have had things click overnight, and scored his third goal in two games, another beauty, and had other opportunities.  And it's not just bouncing pucks that skitter by him and he can't cash in, à la Artturi Lehkonen.  He's actually engaged, skating with the puck with authority, and taking it to the net, weaving around to find an angle.  Great stuff.

Jonathan Drouin had another quiet point, his fourth in four games, and we can almost expect more, like he'll have a big night one of these days.  If he can skate and work hard, and chip in offensively like this on his 'off' nights, we'll be en voiture.

And the honeymoon with Nick Suzuki seems to be over already.  As many said during his strong camp, let's see if he can keep up to the pace of the regular season against full NHL squads, and right now it's not conclusive.  Expect him to be sent down to Laval any day now, and expect a fourth line with Michael Chaput and Ken Agostino Riley Barber and Phil Varone coming soon to a rink near you.

ADDENDUM: Opening ceremony here and here.