National Hockey League
Montreal 5, Detroit 0
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 12, 2016
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Referees: Eric Furlatt, Ghislain Hebert
Linesmen: Derek Amell, Brian Murphy
Attendance: 21288

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens, backed by goaltender Carey Price at the peak of his considerable powers, have put themselves in position to grab a piece of an NHL record.

The Canadiens, backed by a 25-save shutout by Price in a 5-0 victory against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at the Bell Centre, pulled within one win of the NHL record for consecutive home victories to start a season.

The win was their 10th straight on home ice to start the season. The 1963-64 Chicago Blackhawks emerged victorious in 11 consecutive contests on home ice to start the season.

Montreal can tie the Chicago's record when it hosts the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.

The Canadiens (13-1-1) used a familiar formula Saturday en route to setting a franchise record for consecutive wins on home ice from the start of a season, breaking the club record set in 1953.

It begins and ends with Price, who had his second shutout of the season and 38th of his career.

"It's hard to put into words. When he's in the net, you know no matter how you're feeling, how you're playing, you have a chance to win the hockey game," said Montreal forward Paul Byron, who scored the Canadiens' second goal.

"He's more than just a goalie. He's a leader on this team. He's a guy who works hard and brings it every night. He sets the tone for our team. He's the best in the world."

"The way Carey is playing, he gives us a lot of confidence as a team," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "He's a true leader."

The Canadiens offense got a boost from the play of the line of Phillip Danault with Andrew Shaw and captain Max Pacioretty. Shaw had a goal and two assists, and Danault and Pacioretty each a goal and an assist.

The Canadiens roared out to a 3-0 lead after the first period on goals by Danault, Byron and a vintage one-timed blast by defenseman Shea Weber with the Canadiens on a 5-on-3 power play.

"I liked those three guys playing together," Therrien said of the Danault line. "This is two games now. They're good on the forecheck. I really like the way that line competed tonight.

"It's great teamwork. We were good 5-on-5, special teams were really good and Carey got a shutout so as a coach I can't be more than satisfied. I like the commitment from our players, there's no doubt about that."

The Canadiens' 10 wins tied the 1925-26 Ottawa Senators for the NHL's second-longest winning streak at home from the start of a season.

Price extended his franchise-record winning streak from the start of a season to 10 games. The former record was eight by Charlie Hodge in 1960-61. He also extended his personal winning streak to 13 games.

The Canadiens' 13 wins are the most in team history through their first 15 games.

Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard, starting his fourth game in a row, faced 25 shots and was replaced by Petr Mrazek to start the third period.

The Red Wings (8-7-1) had their two-game winning streak ended.

"They were hounding the puck all night," Howard said. "They're a fast team through the neutral zone and they got in on the forecheck. They're tough to knock off the puck. They showed why they've been playing so great.

"They did a lot better job in front of our net than we did in front of theirs. They got their sticks on everything and they made a lot of good little plays."

Detroit coach Jeff Blashill saw the Wings come up empty when they were handed a four-minute power play early in the second period when Montreal defenseman Joel Hanley was sent off for highsticking, but they couldn't beat Price.

That power play was a good chance to perhaps get back in a game they trailed 3-0 at that point, but with the way Price was playing -- and the way the Canadiens were winning the battles -- the Wings faced a big challenge.

"We've got to compete harder than we competed here tonight in terms of just winning 1-on-1 battles, getting to pucks first, all those types of things," Blashill said. "I could go through a litany of things that we've got to be better at. At the end of the day, it's not good enough.

"With all due respect to them, I'm looking at our team and it's hard for me to say what they ... they did a great job, they played a great game, but I didn't like our game. Was their forecheck hard? Yes. We've got to do a better job of creating forecheck pressure on them. When you spend the whole time on your heels, you don't have a chance to win."

NOTES: Canadiens C Brian Flynn was scratched because of an upper-body injury. His place in the lineup was taken by C David Desharnais, who was a healthy scratch for the Canadiens' 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. Montreal D Greg Pateryn was scratched for a second straight game. ... Canadiens LW Artturi Lehkonen missed his third game with an upper-body injury. ... Detroit RW Anthony Mantha played his first game of the season in place of C Andreas Athanasiou (sprained knee). Mantha, the Wings' first-round pick (20th overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft, played on a line with LW Tomas Tatar and C Frans Neilson. ... The Red Wings scratched LW Drew Miller, D Ryan Sproul and D Xavier Ouellet. Injured are RW Tomas Jurco (back), RW Johan Franzen (concussion-like symptoms), C Joe Vitale (concussion) and LW Thomas Vanek (hip). ... Canadiens D Andrei Markov played his 100th consecutive game.
Top Game Performances
 
Detroit   Montreal
N/A Points Andrew Shaw 3
N/A Goals Andrew Shaw 1
N/A Assists Andrew Shaw 2
N/A Power Play Goals Andrew Shaw 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Petr Mrazek 1.000 Save Percentage Carey Price 1.000
Jimmy Howard 20 Saves Carey Price 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Detroit 25 0 0-5 1-3 8 31
Montreal 37 5 2-3 5-5 12 24
Upcoming Games
  • Montreal will play their next game on the road against Chicago. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .846 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
  • Detroit will play their next game at home against Tampa Bay. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .286 after a loss.