CANADIENS CRUSH CANUCKS
Use speed to dominate in 6-2 win
The Canadiens regained their scoring touch Monday as they crushed the Vancouver Canucks 6-2 at the Bell Centre.
The top-scoring team in the NHL was shut out by the Calgary Flames Saturday but they scored in the first minute Monday night and never looked back.
The win ended a four-game win streak for the Canucks and gave the Canadiens a 3-0-1 record against Vancouver. Montreal is alone in second place in the Canadian Division with 14 points on a 6-1-2 record. Montreal is one point behind Toronto and two points clear of Vancouver, which has played three more games.
Montreal used its speed and the forecheck to take a 3-1 lead in the first period.
Josh Anderson led an odd-man rush in the opening minute after picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone. Jonathan Drouin fired wide of the net but Anderson chased the puck down behind the net and set up Nick Suzuki, who was alone in front of Braden Holtby.
Artturi Lehkonen was forechecking on the penalty-kill when he separated Adam Gaudette from the puck in the Canucks’ zone and went in alone to score on Holtby at 6:10. It was a league-leading sixth short-handed goal for the Canadiens, matching their total for all of last season.
After Gaudette cut the Montreal lead in half, Jeff Petry scored late in the period for a 3-1 lead. Lehkonen and Paul Byron picked up assists, but the key to the goal was a strong forecheck by linemate Jake Evans. The rookie hit Quinn Hughes to force a turnover.
The Canadiens increased their lead with two goals in a span of 1:22 in the second period.
Suzuki forced a turnover when he knocked the puck away from Jalen Chatfield at centre ice. That provided Brendan Gallagher with a breakaway and he beat Holtby with a backhander for his fourth goal of the season.
Petry usually scores on shots from the outside but he joined the rush and he was at the side of the net when he redirected a pass from Corey Perry for his second goal of the night. The assist was the 800th in Perry’s career.
Montreal capped the second period with a power-play goal. Holtby stopped Petry’s shot from the blue line but left a long rebound and Shea Weber set up Tyler Toffoli in front. It was Toffoli’s seventh goal of the season and six of those have ben scored against the Canucks, the team he played for at the end of last season.
Vancouver’s Jay Beagle scored the only goal of the third period and Carey Price finished with 27 saves to run his record to 4-0-2. Holtby made 34 saves.
Montreal won the battle of special teams. The Canadiens went 1-for-3 on the power play. They killed three Vancouver power plays and had the short-handed goal.
The Canadiens and Canucks face off again Tuesday (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio).