Newhook scores twice, Canadiens beat Ducks

ANAHEIM — Alex Newhook scored with 3:20 remaining for his second goal of the game, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 Wednesday night to snap a four-game losing streak.

Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson also scored, Sam Montembeault made 30 saves, and the Canadiens won on the road for the second time in six games.

“It’s obviously big for us,” Montembeault said. “We’re on the road for like 10 days here, so we wanted to really get the first one here.”

Mason McTavish had two goals and an assist, and Frank Vatrano had a goal and an assist in the Ducks’ fourth straight loss. John Gibson finished with 24 saves.

“They’re close games, the games you could win,” Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. “We were winning them a month ago.”

Montreal blew leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before Newhook finished off a 2-on-1 rush from Jake Evans to pick up just its third win in 10 games.

“I think the third, we were kind of just gripping our sticks and worried about losing it,” Evans said. “It’s great when you pull it out at the end, but a lot more to clean up still.”

McTavish got his second multi-goal game to pull the Ducks to 3-2 at the six-minute mark of the second, period with Vatrano setting him up by spinning around on a centering pass after chasing down Tristan Luneau’s pass.

It was the first career point in three games for Luneau, who was the 53rd overall pick in the 2022 draft.

Vatrano tied it at 3 with 8:29 remaining in the third, beating Montembeault five-hole for his 13th goal of the season.

“That line was dominant,” Cronin said. “But we can’t be a one-line team. We’re, like, relying on one line almost every night and it’s hard to win that way.”

After allowing the opening goal in four of their past five games, the Canadiens struck quickly when Newhook scored 5:59 into the first period after a power play expired and Guhle followed up with his second goal of the season 38 seconds later.