On a Wednesday night in Anaheim, a Montreal team that had twice squandered two-goal leads found its footing late, as Alex Newhook's second goal with barely three minutes remaining turned a tied game into a 4-3 win and ended a four-game skid. It is the kind of small reprieve that hockey seasons are built from: a team learning, one fragile result at a time, that a lead can be held as well as lost. Across the ice, Anaheim absorbed a painful loss that carried its own strange note of promise, as young players found the scoresheet together in a way the franchise had not seen in decades, even as its
Newhook's Second Goal Lifts Canadiens Past Ducks 4-3, Ending Four-Game Skid
Mark
Montreal blew two leads and still won. Why does this one matter?
Mimi
Because of the streak. Four straight losses, only three wins in ten games, and they're at the start of a roughly 10-day road trip. Montembeault said they wanted to get the first one.
Luke
That's his framing of the trip, though. The box score confirms the win and the streak ending, not that it fixes anything.
Mark
The early goals seemed to be a change for them.
Mimi
They'd allowed the first goal in four of their last five games. Here Newhook scored at 5:59 and Guhle 38 seconds later.
Luke
And then they gave back both leads. Evans himself said they were gripping their sticks in the third.
Mark
What about Anaheim's four young players?
Mimi
McTavish, Luneau, Carlsson and Mintyukov all got points, the fourth team in 30 years to do that with players under 21. Luneau's was his first career point.
Luke
Fun stat, but it didn't produce a win. Cronin's point was that the team leans too much on one line, and that's his assessment, not something the numbers here prove.
Mark
So what do you watch on Friday?
Mimi
Whether Montreal can repeat this in San Jose, and whether Anaheim, hosting Los Angeles, can end its skid.
Luke
One game won't settle either question. We don't yet know if anything changed.
Der Puls
- Montreal blew leads of 2-0 and 3-1 before a late winner rescued a game that could have slipped away.
- Newhook's 2-on-1 finish with 3:20 left silenced an Anaheim comeback that had tied the score at 3.
- Montreal's players admitted they gripped their sticks in the third period, fearing the lead would vanish again.
- Anaheim's coach Greg Cronin warned the Ducks rely on one line almost every night, and the losing streak has reached four.
- Both sides now head into a road test on Friday, with Montreal visiting San Jose and Anaheim hosting Los Angeles.
On a Wednesday night in Anaheim, a Montreal team that had twice squandered two-goal leads found its footing late, as Alex Newhook's second goal with barely three minutes remaining turned a tied game into a 4-3 win and ended a four-game skid. It is the kind of small reprieve that hockey seasons are built from: a team learning, one fragile result at a time, that a lead can be held as well as lost. Across the ice, Anaheim absorbed a painful loss that carried its own strange note of promise, as young players found the scoresheet together in a way the franchise had not seen in decades, even as its coach questioned whether one line can carry a team alone.
The Canadiens arrived in Anaheim needing something to break their way. They had been struggling to protect leads, allowing the first goal in four of five games, but this time they started fast. Newhook scored 5:59 into the game, and Kaiden Guhle followed within 38 seconds, giving the visitors a sense of control that Evans later described as coming in waves.
The control did not last. Mason McTavish cut the margin on a power play early in the second period, and Mike Matheson restored the two-goal cushion before McTavish struck again, this time after a sequence set up by Frank Vatrano. With 8:29 left, Vatrano beat Sam Montembeault to tie the game, and the building felt the pull of a contest that could go either way.
Newhook had the final word. Off a rush set up by Jake Evans, he buried the winner with 3:20 remaining, his second goal of the night. Montembeault finished with 30 saves, and it was only Montreal's third win in ten games and just its second road victory in six tries.
For Anaheim, the defeat carried a rare distinction. McTavish, Tristan Luneau, Leo Carlsson and Pavel Mintyukov all recorded points, the first time in three decades four players under 21 had done so for one team in a single game. Yet Greg Cronin was blunt about the larger problem: the Ducks lean too heavily on one line, and four straight losses suggest the close games they once won are slipping away.
Montreal's players were not celebrating a clean night. Coach Martin St. Louis praised the compete level but acknowledged the game could have gone the other way. With a road trip stretching about ten days, the Canadiens will carry this win into San Jose on Friday, while Anaheim faces Los Angeles hoping to find a second line worth trusting.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Alex Newhook scored with 3:20 left in the third period on Wednesday night, his second goal of the game, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 to end a four-game losing streak.
The winner came off a 2-on-1 rush set up by Jake Evans, with Newhook finishing the play. It was only Montreal's third win in its last 10 games, and it came after the Canadiens had let two leads slip away, 2-0 and then 3-1. Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson also scored, and goaltender Sam Montembeault stopped 30 shots. It was just the second road win for Montreal in six tries.
The Canadiens had been struggling to get ahead, having allowed the first goal in four of their previous five games. This time they struck first and fast. Newhook scored 5:59 into the opening period, just after a power play had run out, and Guhle added his second goal of the season 38 seconds later. Evans said the early goals gave the group confidence, and that Montreal was coming in waves at the start. "Got away from it for a bit," he said, "but for the most part I think we stuck together."
Anaheim answered through Mason McTavish. Less than a minute into the second period, he cashed in on a power play by tipping in a pass from Leo Carlsson to make it 2-1. Matheson restored the two-goal margin 56 seconds later with a wrist shot from the high slot that beat John Gibson. McTavish then pulled the Ducks within one again at the six-minute mark of the second, after Frank Vatrano spun around on a centering pass, having chased down a pass from Tristan Luneau. With 8:29 left in the third, Vatrano tied it at 3 by beating Montembeault five-hole for his 13th goal of the season. Gibson finished with 24 saves.
The night carried a historical footnote for the Ducks. McTavish, who finished with two goals and an assist, Luneau, Carlsson and defenceman Pavel Mintyukov, who had a secondary assist, all recorded points. That made Anaheim the fourth team in the past 30 years to get a point from four players under 21 in the same game, and the first since the 2011-12 Colorado Avalanche. Luneau, the 53rd overall pick in the 2022 draft, picked up his first career point in his third NHL game.
Still, it was Anaheim's fourth straight loss, and coach Greg Cronin was frank about why. He said the McTavish-Vatrano line was dominant but that the team cannot be a one-line team, noting the Ducks lean on one line almost every night. "They're close games, the games you could win," he said. "We were winning them a month ago."
Montreal's players were not claiming a clean performance. Evans said that in the third period the team was gripping its sticks and worried about losing the lead. "It's great when you pull it out at the end," he said, "but a lot more to clean up still." Coach Martin St. Louis praised the team's compete level and acknowledged the game could have gone the other way, but said the team needed a win and found a way.
For Montembeault, the timing mattered. Montreal is in the middle of a road stretch of about 10 days, and he said the team wanted to get the first game of it. The next test comes Friday, when the Canadiens visit San Jose and the Ducks host Los Angeles.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
It's great when you pull it out at the end, but a lot more to clean up still.— Jake Evans, Canadiens forward
We can't be a one-line team.— Greg Cronin, Ducks coach
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