Canadiens score eight in win against Red Wings

DETROIT -- Andrew Shaw got his first NHL hat trick, and Max Domi had an NHL career-high five points for the Montreal Canadiens in an 8-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.

Domi had two goals and three assists, and the third member of the line, Jonathan Drouin, had an NHL career-best four assists.
"Everything I got tonight was because of Max and Drouin]," Shaw said. "I was just trying to get to good spots, and they kept getting me the puck."
***[WATCH: [All Canadiens vs. Red Wings highlights]*
Montreal (34-23-7), which won for the third time in nine games, is one point ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"We need to win every game we can, and we took care of that tonight," Domi said.
Carey Price made 28 saves for his 312th NHL win, two behind Jacques Plante for most in Canadiens history.

Detroit (23-32-9) has lost six games in a row. Jimmy Howard allowed six goals on 22 shots through the second period before being pulled for the third straight start.
"The puck went in way too easy tonight, but that's not because of our goaltending," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "If you don't play defense in this league, you won't have a chance because you'll just be digging the puck out of your net."
Shaw, Domi and Drouin each was plus-5 in their first game back together. Shaw and Domi had been playing with Tomas Tatar, and Drouin was on the first line with Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault. Coach Claude Julien decided to mix things up after a 2-1 loss at the New Jersey Devils on Monday.
"We had a good meeting and we decided to change some lines around," Julien said. "Every team goes through slumps, but we're at a point in the season where we needed to get out of this one in a hurry."

The Red Wings have lost eight straight games to Montreal (0-7-1) and have been outscored 45-17 in that span.
"I have no idea why this keeps happening against that team," Blashill said. "They outcompete us on a regular basis. It is a joke."
Tatar gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead 6:16 into the game, and Montreal put the game away with five goals in the second period.
After the Canadiens killed back-to-back Red Wings power plays, Shaw made it 2-0 at 2:22.
Gallagher made it 3-0 at 11:19 when he scored his Montreal-leading 27th goal from the right face-off dot.
The Red Wings failed to get off a shot on a 2-on-1 rush later in the period, and the Canadiens turned it into a 4-on-2 break the other way, with Domi scoring to make it 4-0 at 13:48.

Joel Armia made it 5-0 at 16:09 before Anthony Mantha scored at 18:16 to pull Detroit to within 5-1.
Shaw scored at 19:17 to put Montreal ahead 6-1, and Domi scored his second of the game at 2:42 of the third to make it 7-1.
"We were ready to go at the start of all three periods, and once we got going, we kept playing," Domi said. "We knew this was a game we needed to have."
Shaw finished his hat trick at 18:27 to make it 8-1.
"I've had some two-goal games, but it felt really good to finally get that third one," Shaw said. "This was a great night for all of us."

They said it

"I've still got a lot of friends on that team -- guys I played with for seven years -- and what they are going through is tough. They made the playoffs for 26 straight years, and now they aren't in that position. Dynasties change, and they are facing a lot of adversity." -- Canadiens forward Tomas Tatar, who played his first 407 NHL games with the Red Wings
"There's no explanation for that. It's embarrassing. Our fans deserve better, and the city of Detroit deserves better." -- Red Wings center Dylan Larkin
"There was no heart whatsoever. No pride out there. It started with the drop of the puck. We weren't even close. That was absolutely embarrassing. You want to be able to look at yourself in the mirror after a game, but tonight we didn't even try." -- Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall

Need to know

Domi's five points were two more than either he or his father, Tie Domi, had in their combined 1,305 NHL games entering Tuesday. ... Drouin ended a seven-game point drought. ... Detroit's past three losses (also 3-2 to the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 22 and 5-3 to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday) have come at home playing after a day off and against teams playing the second of a back-to-back.

What's next

Canadiens: At the New York Rangers on Friday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)
Red Wings: Host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-D+, FS-A PLUS, NHL.TV)