On a Wednesday night in Anaheim, a hockey game turned on the kind of late moment that makes a long season feel briefly simple. The Montreal Canadiens had let two leads slip away and seemed set to lose yet again, until Alex Newhook, who had opened the scoring himself, finished a 2-on-1 rush with barely three minutes left in the third period. The 4-3 win ended a four-game losing streak for Montreal and a stretch of hard-won uncertainty for both clubs, whose paths cross again Friday in California.
Newhook scores twice late as Canadiens edge Ducks 4-3, snapping four-game skid
Montreal blew leads of 2-0 and 3-1, and still found a winner
Mark
Montreal had a four-game losing streak and still blew two leads here. Why does this win matter?
Mimi
Because of how the night started. They'd allowed the first goal in four of their last five games, and this time they scored first, then Guhle added another 38 seconds later.
Mark
So the early lead was the point?
Mimi
It was a change in pattern, at least. Then they lost the cushion twice, and still found a winner on a 2-on-1 from Jake Evans to Newhook.
Luke
Careful, though. One game doesn't show the pattern has changed. The report only tells us they started well this once.
Mimi
Fair. It says they scored early here, not that it will hold.
Mark
What about Anaheim? They lost their fourth straight too.
Mimi
McTavish had two goals and an assist, Vatrano a goal and an assist, and Gibson made 24 saves. The individual numbers were there; the result wasn't.
Luke
And nothing in the report explains why Anaheim couldn't finish. It gives us the scoring sequence, not the reasons behind it.
Mark
Anything small worth noticing?
Mimi
Tristan Luneau, the 53rd pick in 2022, got his first career point in three games, on the McTavish goal.
Luke
That's confirmed. Anything about what it means for his season is just guessing.
Le Pouls
- Montreal's lead evaporated twice, first 2-0 and then 3-1, leaving the Canadiens staring at another collapse.
- McTavish and Vatrano kept Anaheim clawing back, turning every Montreal advantage into a question mark.
- With 3:20 left, Newhook's 2-on-1 finish from a Jake Evans feed broke a tied game open and snapped the losing streak.
- Montreal heads to San Jose on Friday carrying momentum, while Anaheim, now on four straight losses, hosts Los Angeles the same night.
On a Wednesday night in Anaheim, a hockey game turned on the kind of late moment that makes a long season feel briefly simple. The Montreal Canadiens had let two leads slip away and seemed set to lose yet again, until Alex Newhook, who had opened the scoring himself, finished a 2-on-1 rush with barely three minutes left in the third period. The 4-3 win ended a four-game losing streak for Montreal and a stretch of hard-won uncertainty for both clubs, whose paths cross again Friday in California.
Late in the third period at Anaheim, the Montreal Canadiens were tied and running out of time. Their last lead had already slipped away once, and the Ducks had shown they would not go quietly. Then Jake Evans found Alex Newhook on a 2-on-1, and Newhook finished it with 3:20 remaining. It was his second goal of the night, following an early strike that had come just after a power play ended.
The game had been a sequence of reversals. Montreal jumped ahead 2-0 with goals from Newhook and Kaiden Guhle, then watched Mason McTavish cut the margin on the power play and Mike Matheson restore a two-goal cushion. McTavish struck again before the second period ended, and Frank Vatrano tied the score early in the third with a five-hole finish on Sam Montembeault.
Montembeault finished with 30 saves, and Montreal's road win was only its second in six games. Anaheim's Gibson stopped 24 shots, but the Ducks dropped their fourth straight. Both teams return to the ice Friday, with Montreal visiting San Jose and Anaheim hosting Los Angeles.
With 3:20 left in the third period at Anaheim on Wednesday night, Alex Newhook finished off a 2-on-1 rush set up by Jake Evans, and the Montreal Canadiens had the goal that mattered. It was Newhook's second of the game. It gave Montreal a 4-3 win over the Ducks and ended a four-game losing streak.
Newhook had also scored the first goal. It came 5:59 into the opening period, just after a power play expired. That mattered to a team that had allowed the opening goal in four of its previous five games. Thirty-eight seconds later, Kaiden Guhle added his second goal of the season, and Montreal led 2-0.
Anaheim answered quickly in the second. Less than a minute in, Mason McTavish capitalized on a power play, tipping in a pass from Leo Carlsson to make it 2-1. Montreal replied 56 seconds later. Mike Matheson beat John Gibson with a wrist shot from the high slot, restoring a two-goal lead at 3-1.
McTavish cut into it again at the six-minute mark of the second, pulling the Ducks to 3-2. It was his second multi-goal game of the season. Frank Vatrano set up the goal by spinning around on a centering pass after chasing down a pass from Tristan Luneau. The assist was the first career point in three games for Luneau, the 53rd overall pick in the 2022 draft.
Vatrano tied it at 3 with 8:29 remaining in the third. He beat Montembeault five-hole for his 13th goal of the season. Montreal had now given up leads of 2-0 and 3-1, and the game was level until Newhook's rush goal.
Montembeault made 30 saves for the Canadiens, who won on the road for only the second time in six games. For Anaheim, McTavish finished with two goals and an assist, and Vatrano had a goal and an assist. Gibson stopped 24 shots in the Ducks' fourth straight loss.
Both teams are back on the ice Friday. Montreal visits San Jose, and Anaheim hosts Los Angeles.
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