LINDGREN AND HABS STAY HOT
Hold off Vegas for third straight win
The bottom line: Goaltender Charlie Lindgren ran his NHL record to a perfect 5-0 as he made 29 saves to lead the Canadiens to a 3-2 win over the expansion Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday night. Lindgren, who is filling in for the injured Carey Price, wasn’t as busy as he was Sunday night, when he stopped 38 shots to shut out the Blackhawks in Chicago, but he did have to make some big saves. He stopped James Neal from close range in the first and stymied William Carrier on a breakaway in the second. Montreal finished the game without Jonathan Drouin, who suffered an upper-body injury in the second.
What’s it mean?: For the first time this season, the Canadiens have a three-game winning streak and they are only two points out of a playoff position in the Eastern Conference.
Good start: The Habs dominated the first, outshooting Vegas 14-2, but only managed a 2-1 lead at the intermission. Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring with his teamleading seventh goal of the season at 8:24, but the standout performance on the goal came from Tomas Plekanec, who caught up with Jordie Benn’s clearing pass to prevent an icing and found Gallagher in front. Benn made it 2-0 with a shot from the point at 10:55. Frenchman Pierre-Edouard Bellemare cut the Canadiens’ lead in half when he cut inside defenceman Jeff Petry and beat Lindgren at 17:41.
Right place, right time: Max Pacioretty was in front of the net to tip Petry’s shot at 3:31 of the second period to extend the Montreal lead to 3-1. It was Pacioretty’s sixth goal and he has four goals and four assists in a six-game point streak.
Making it close: The Canadiens were outshot 29-14 after the first period and the Golden Knights made it close when they pulled Maxime Lagacé and Erik Haula scored with 1:37 to play.
Nothing special: The power play wasn’t a factor as each team went 0-for-2 with the extra man. The Canadiens had five shots on the power play, while Vegas managed only two.
Tough road trip: This was the end of a six-game road trip for the Golden Knights, who came back to Earth after posting an impressive 8-1-0 record to begin the season. They finished the road trip with a 1-4-1 mark.
Coming up: This was the first of six consecutive home games for the Canadiens, who play the Minnesota Wild Thursday (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN-690 Radio) and the Buffalo Sabres Saturday.