Led by their top line of Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Cole Caufield, the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena. Slafkovsky led the way with a goal and two assists, while his linemates notched a goal and an assist apiece. The Canucks mounted a comeback in the third period with goals from Filip Hronek and Elias Pettersson, but could only get within one as Mike Matheson salted it away with an empty netter in the final 20 seconds.
With the win, the Canadiens move within two points of the final wild card spot, tied with the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers at 68 points. The Canucks, meanwhile, stay tied with the St. Louis Blues at 69 points, one back of their next opponent, the Calgary Flames.
Game Recap
The scoring started almost immediately in this one with Suzuki notching his 20th, a la Peter Forsberg on a breakaway only 66 seconds in. Slafkovsky doubled the lead at 8:38 with his 12th to make it 2-0, and thanks to some puck luck and a couple posts, the Canadiens kept their two-goal lead for the entire first period. The Canucks had a lot of chances to cut into the deficit, but couldn’t get the puck to bounce their way. Joshua got the closest on a backhand wraparound but wacked it off the post and later was mere millimetres from scoring when Sam Montembeault’s pad stopped it from completely crossing the goal line. Pius Suter hit one off the pipe as well. But no dice for the Canucks, and the Canadiens, somewhat fortunately, were still up 2-0 entering the first intermission.
The Canucks’ lack of execution continued in the second, and the Canadiens added another to their lead with Caufield completing the top-line trifecta. Taking a pass from Suzuki on a 2-on-1, he notched his team-leading 32nd of the season and put his team up 3-0. The Canucks had quite a few chances in the middle frame, but just couldn’t put anything by Montembeault.
The Canucks finally got on the board in the third period with goals from Hronek and Pettersson, but couldn’t complete the comeback as Matheson finished it with an empty netter for a 4-2 Canadiens win.
Lankinen had another game that will mess with his save percentage (SV%) as he stopped 23 of 26 for an .895 SV%. Montembeault, on the other hand, stopped 29 of 31 for a .935 SV%.
What’s Next for the Canucks & Canadiens?
The Canucks will travel to Calgary for an important matchup with the Flames on Wednesday in the second half of a back-to-back. The Canadiens are also in action that night, as they will be in Seattle to face the Kraken.
