On a Wednesday night in Anaheim, a team that had lost four straight found its footing late, as the rhythm of a long season so often turns on a single well-timed pass. Alex Newhook, finishing a play that Jake Evans opened with a 2-on-1, gave Montreal a 4-3 win over the Ducks with just over three minutes left in regulation. It was a victory earned after squandering two separate leads, the kind of hard-won result that reminds a club that a streak is only a story until the next game writes a different one.
Newhook's late second goal lifts Canadiens past Ducks 4-3, snapping a four-game skid
Gripping their sticks and worried about losing it
Mark
Montreal blew two leads and still won. Why does this one matter?
Mimi
Because it ended a four-game skid, and it was only their third win in 10 games. Montembeault said the road trip runs about 10 days, so getting the first game mattered.
Mark
Newhook scored twice. How did the first goal change things?
Mimi
Montreal had allowed the first goal in four of their last five games. Newhook scored 5:59 in, and Guhle added another 38 seconds later, so they were finally the ones leading.
Luke
Worth noting that the lead didn't hold, though. Evans himself said they were gripping their sticks in the third.
Mimi
Right, and he said there's a lot more to clean up. It was a win, not a fix.
Mark
And the Ducks' young players?
Mimi
Four skaters under 21 — McTavish, Luneau, Carlsson and Mintyukov — all got points. It's happened to four teams in 30 years.
Luke
That's a striking stat, but it tells us about individual points, not whether the team is improving. Cronin said they rely on one line almost every night.
Mark
So what's unknown?
Luke
Whether Montreal's third-period tightness is a pattern. One game can't say. Friday gives two more data points.
Il Polso
- Montreal built a 2-0 and then a 3-1 lead, only to watch Anaheim claw back into the game again and again.
- Anaheim's young skaters, McTavish, Luneau, Carlsson and Mintyukov, all recorded points, a rare feat that rattled the box score.
- Newhook broke the tie with 3:20 left after Evans slipped him a 2-on-1 pass, ending a four-game skid.
- Coach Cronin warned the Ducks cannot lean on one line every night, while Montreal's Evans admitted the team gripped its sticks in the third.
- With a long road trip ahead and both clubs back in action Friday, Montreal heads to San Jose while Anaheim hosts Los Angeles still hunting its first win in four.
On a Wednesday night in Anaheim, a team that had lost four straight found its footing late, as the rhythm of a long season so often turns on a single well-timed pass. Alex Newhook, finishing a play that Jake Evans opened with a 2-on-1, gave Montreal a 4-3 win over the Ducks with just over three minutes left in regulation. It was a victory earned after squandering two separate leads, the kind of hard-won result that reminds a club that a streak is only a story until the next game writes a different one.
With 3:20 left in the third period in Anaheim, Jake Evans broke in on a 2-on-1 and found Alex Newhook, who buried it. The goal, Newhook's second of the night, gave the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win and snapped a four-game losing streak. It was their third win in ten games, and a welcome one, since Montreal had twice built a lead and twice watched it vanish.
The Canadiens started quickly for once, scoring early in the first period and taking a 2-0 advantage before Anaheim began to answer. Mason McTavish scored twice for the Ducks and Frank Vatrano tied the game in the third, beating Sam Montembeault for his 13th of the season. Montreal kept finding a way back, and Mike Matheson's wrist shot restored a two-goal cushion in the second.
The Ducks' night carried its own rare note. McTavish, Tristan Luneau, Leo Carlsson and Pavel Mintyukov are all under 21, and all recorded points, a feat Anaheim had not managed since the 2011-12 Avalanche.
Afterward, Montembeault said the win mattered on a long road trip, and Evans admitted his team had gripped its sticks late. Greg Cronin warned his club cannot depend on one line, while insisting the close losses were games they could win. Both teams return to action Friday, with Montreal visiting San Jose and Anaheim hosting Los Angeles.
With 3:20 left in the third period in Anaheim on Wednesday night, Jake Evans broke in on a 2-on-1 and fed Alex Newhook, who finished the play. It was Newhook's second goal of the game and it gave the Montreal Canadiens a 4-3 win over the Ducks, ending a four-game losing streak.
Montreal had twice built a lead and twice watched it disappear. The Canadiens went up 2-0 and 3-1 before Anaheim pulled level. The win was only Montreal's third in 10 games and its second road victory in six games.
The Canadiens had been struggling to start games, having allowed the opening goal in four of their previous five. This time they struck first. Newhook scored 5:59 into the opening period, right after a power play expired, and Kaiden Guhle followed 38 seconds later with his second goal of the season. Evans said the early goals gave the group confidence and that the team came in waves at the start, though he admitted they drifted from that for a stretch.
Anaheim answered quickly in the second. Less than a minute in, Mason McTavish converted a power play by tipping in a pass from Leo Carlsson to make it 2-1. Montreal replied 56 seconds later, when Mike Matheson beat John Gibson with a wrist shot from the high slot to restore the two-goal margin.
McTavish scored again at the six-minute mark of the second, cutting it to 3-2. Frank Vatrano set that one up, spinning around on a centering pass after chasing down a pass from Tristan Luneau. The assist was Luneau's first career point in three games; he was the 53rd overall pick in the 2022 draft. Vatrano tied it at 3 with 8:29 left in the third, beating Sam Montembeault five-hole for his 13th goal of the season. McTavish finished with two goals and an assist, Vatrano with a goal and an assist.
The night also produced a rare note in the Anaheim box score. McTavish, Luneau, Carlsson and defenceman Pavel Mintyukov, who had the secondary assist on McTavish's first goal, are all under 21, and all recorded a point. Anaheim became the fourth team in the past 30 years to manage that in one game, and the first since the 2011-12 Colorado Avalanche, when Ryan O'Reilly, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Stefan Elliott did it on two different occasions.
Anaheim coach Greg Cronin praised the McTavish-Vatrano line as dominant but warned the team cannot lean on one line almost every night. He said these were close games the Ducks could win, and that they were winning them a month ago. Gibson made 24 saves in the Ducks' fourth straight loss.
Montembeault made 30 saves for Montreal and said the win mattered because the team is on the road for about 10 days and wanted to take the first game. Evans said that in the third the Canadiens were gripping their sticks and worried about losing it, and that there is a lot more to clean up. Coach Martin St. Louis said he loved the team's compete level, acknowledged the game could have gone the other way, and said the team needed the win.
Both teams play again Friday: Montreal visits San Jose, and Anaheim hosts Los Angeles.
Citazioni salienti
I loved our compete level. We found a way to win it.— Martin St. Louis, Canadiens coach
We can't be a one-line team.— Greg Cronin, Ducks coach
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