3 takeaways from the Anaheim Ducks win over the Montreal Canadiens

The Anaheim Ducks won against the Montreal Canadiens 4-3, in their last game of an eventful four game Canadian road trip. With the win, the Ducks have moved into first place in the Pacific Division, as the Vegas Golden Knights were idle. The Ducks also had a much-anticipated season debut, a welcome return to the lineup, and a disappointing, yet unsurprising healthy scratch.

A season debut

John Carlson finally made his debut in a Ducks sweater and primarily skated on the second pair with Olen Zellweger. In 22:59 of ice time, second only to Jacob Trouba, Carlson did not register any points on the scoresheet, but he made a clean breakout pass on the first goal of the game for the Ducks.

Carlson's defensive play was as advertised, and fans could see why GM Pat Verbeek made the trade. Carlson was regularly pinching at the blue line to sustain offensive pressure and was consistently in the right area in the defensive zone, all qualities the Ducks defense has lacked at times this season. Carlson was also deployed on the Ducks top powerplay unit and saw time on the penalty kill, as well.

A welcome return

Troy Terry returned to the Ducks lineup, after missing the last nine games with an injury. Terry returned to the top line with Leo Carlsson and Chris Kreider and found instant chemistry with Carlsson again, by assisting on both of his goals. Terry also scored a goal himself in the second period to tie the game.

A three-point night for Terry in 14:23 of ice time; welcome back indeed.

The unsurprising healthy scratch

Mason McTavish was healthy scratched for the game against the Canadiens. While jarring, McTavish has not played up to his billing as the number two center for a playoff bound team. Twice in the Ducks past four games, McTavish was moved to the wing, and he also did not register a point in his past five games. At this point in the season, both Mikael Granlund and Ryan Poehling have made more of an impact on the ice. While McTavish would be a better number four center than Tim Washe, it would be unfair to move Washe out of the lineup just because McTavish has been struggling. McTavish needs to find his game again or he might be seeing more time in the press box.

What's next?

The Ducks return to Anaheim and will host the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, in a game that will not be lacking in drama, as the two teams have recent trade history and plenty of bad blood. The Ducks will close out the week, by heading out on the road to face the Utah Mammoth, another team jostling for playoff positioning.