Alex Newhook scored twice including the game-winner as the Montreal Canadiens ended a four-game losing streak by beating the Anaheim Ducks.
GAME RECAP | Montreal Canadiens 4 vs Anaheim Ducks 3 | Final
Canadiens Lineup
Forwards
15 Alex Newhook - 14 Nick Suzuki - 11 Brendan Gallagher
22 Cole Caufield - 28 Christian Dvorak - 20 Juraj Slafkovsky
70 Tanner Pearson - 91 Sean Monahan - 17 Josh Anderson
55 Michael Pezzetta - 71 Jake Evans - 56 Jesse Ylonen
Defensemen
8 Mike Matheson - 52 Justin Barron
21 Kaiden Guhle - 26 Johnathan Kovacevic
47 Jayden Struble - 27 Gustav Lindstrom
Goaltenders
Starter: 35 Sam Montembeault
Alternate: 34 Jake Allen
Out of the lineup
Scratches: Cayden Primeau, Mattias Norlinder
Injuries: Carey Price (knee), Chris Wideman (back), Kirby Dach (knee), David Savard (hand), Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body), Arber Xhekaj (upper body), Jordan Harris (lower body)
Game Report
Did you stay up late into Thursday morning to watch the Canadiens edge the Ducks? The win over Anaheim came officially on November 23rd, eastern time, exactly one month since Montreal's last regulation victory, a span of 14 games. And the game-winner came just three minutes and change before extra time would have been in play again.
It also ended the Canadiens four-game losing skid which should give them a boost of confidence as they continue a three-game Western swing.
The match itself was a mélange of speed and pace, sloppy play, brilliant play-making, giveaways, indiscipline, stellar saves, soft goals; in other words two young teams who were all over the map in terms of performance that made for an exciting game for both fanbases.
For two teams known this season for slow starts, the Canadiens came out strong scoring two goals in a 38-second span. They held the lead through the first intermission thanks to goals from Alex Newhook and Kaiden Guhle.
But Anaheim struck in the first minute of the second period on the power play. Mason McTavish scored his first goal of the evening. Anaheim's second line of Frank Vatrano, Masson McTavish and Ryan Strome dominated when they were on the ice; Montreal had no answer for them.
It was a tough night for the line of Sean Monahan, Josh Anderson and Tanner Pearson. Justin Barron struggled on defense in 21:49 of ice time.
Jayden Struble played just 11:20 but looked comfortable at both ends of the ice in his NHL debut. His strong skating was certainly an asset at this level.
Marty St. Louis chose to shorten his bench in the third period. Michael Pezzetta played just 6:49 and Jesse Ylonen had 7:23 in ice time despite his superb feed to Guhle in the first period for the Canadiens second goal.
Sam Montembeault made a flashy save on Frank Vatrano in the third period. But Vatrano beat the Canadiens goaltender with a quick wrister a few minutes later to tie the game.
Newhook broke the tie with 3:20 remaining to give Montreal their first win in Anaheim since March 5, 2014.
Game Statistics
Canadiens (8-9-2)
Shots: 28
Face-off %: 50.8
Power play: 0/3
Penalty minutes: 4
Hits: 19
Blocks: 15
Ducks (9-10-0)
Shots: 33
Face-off %: 49.2
Power play: 1/1
Penalty minutes: 8
Hits: 25
Blocks: 14
Scoring Summary
Canadiens Scorers
1st period: Newhook (5), Guhle (2)
2nd period: Matheson (5)
3rd period: Newhook (6)
OT: --
SO: --
Ducks Scorers
1st period: --
2nd period: McTavish (9)-PPG, McTavish (10)
3rd period: Vatrano (13)
OT: --
SO: --
Goaltenders
MTL: Montembeault (W) 4-3-1
ANA: Gibson (L) 4-7-0
Canadiens Player of the Game
Alex Newhook - Newhook scored the first and last goals for the Canadiens.
Video Highlights
Post-game Quotes
Martin St. Louis
“We needed a victory. We're going to review the video and yes, there are a lot of things to fix, but the effort was there."
Alex Newhook
"We felt it could be a pivotal match for us. After losing the last four games on the road, we wanted to seize the opportunity to get back on track. We had a bit of the energy of despair. It wasn't perfect, but to find a way to win like that is huge for us. We will try to carry this into the next games."
Jayden Struble on his first NHL game
"It was truly an extraordinary experience. The victory was the icing on the cake."
Game Preview
Up Next
The Canadiens will now prepare for two matinees in California as they face the San Jose Sharks on Friday afternoon, and the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon.
Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.
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