Forward has goal, assist for Montreal; Terry scores twice for Anaheim

Ducks at Canadiens | Recap

By Sean Farrell

NHL.com Independent Correspondent

December 10, 2024

MONTREAL -- Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist for the Montreal Canadiens, who won 3-2 in a shootout against the Anaheim Ducks at Bell Centre on Monday.

Laine scored on Montreal’s first attempt in the tiebreaker, and Cole Caufield scored on the second. Laine also scored his third power-play goal in four games for the Canadiens since returning from a knee injury he sustained in a preseason game on Sept. 28.

“His shot is so hard to stop for a goalie,” Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault said. “So on their side, they’ve got to respect that.”

ANA@MTL: Laine rips PPG for a 1-0 lead in the 1st

Montembeault didn’t allow a goal on Anaheim’s two attempts after making 27 saves for Montreal (11-14-3), which has won three of four.

“It’s a team that we know that if we play the right way, if we play our game as a team, that it’s a game that we can take,” Montembeault said. “And they came hard, you’ve got to give them credit.”

Troy Terry scored twice and Lukas Dostal made 19 saves for Anaheim (10-12-4), which lost its third straight.

“You don’t have to try to get up for this game, it’s just the atmosphere and playing here is always one of my favorites,” Terry said. “I thought our team did a great job tonight. It was a fun, fast hockey game.”

Terry hit the crossbar with 37 seconds remaining in overtime. He had six shots on goal. Montembeault made a glove save on Frank Vatrano with 3:00 left in the third to keep it tied.

“I felt good tonight so I was hoping that I could get it done,” Terry said. “That’s just kind of the way it goes.”

ANA@MTL: Terry scores PPG for his second goal of the game

Laine gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 2:36 with his third power-play goal in four games. He one-timed Nick Suzuki’s cross-ice pass to score on a slap shot from the left face-off circle.

Terry tied it 1-1 at 10:49. After setting up Cam Fowler’s shot, he scored with a backhand from the slot on the rebound.

“The first period was one of the best periods we’ve played,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “It kind of resembled the way we’ve been playing when we’re winning.”

Terry scored his second straight goal on a power play at 4:25 of the second to put Anaheim up 2-1. He set up on the left edge of the crease and tapped in Alex Killorn’s pass from the right face-off dot.

Kirby Dach tied it 2-2 just 11 seconds later with his first goal since Oct. 26 after Dostal misplayed a dump-in by Laine. He took Juraj Slafkovsky’s pass from behind the net and scored on a wrist shot after the Ducks goalie was too late scrambling back out in front to make the save.

“It’s kind of the only way one was going to go in, I guess, was to have the whole open net in front of me,” Dach said. “So it was nice. 'Slaf' made a good play and it’s definitely encouraging.”

ANA@MTL: Dach evens the game at 2 with a response goal in 2nd

Dach had gone 19 games without a goal and nine without a point. Slafkovsky, who has two goals in 25 games, had gone four games without a point.

“I was happy because I feel like when you score a couple of goals you get your confidence back, and pretty much that’s what he needs. That’s what I need,” Slafkovsky said.

Jacob Trouba was paired with Fowler and played 22:35 with one shot on goal and five hits in his Anaheim debut. He was acquired from the New York Rangers in a trade on Friday.

“I mean, he’s always hard to play against,” Terry said. “You know he’s this big physical guy and he’s good defensively. I thought he was up in the play a lot tonight offensively. It felt like a few times whenever I got space in the offensive zone he was in a good spot for a pass or a chance to score. So I thought he was great.”

NOTES: Lane Hutson got the secondary assist on Laine’s goal to extend his assist and point streaks to seven games (no goals, eight assists), setting records for each by a Canadiens rookie defenseman. Chris Chelios had assists in six consecutive games in 1984-85, one of his two six-game point streaks that season. Glen Harmon had a six-game point streak from Jan. 9-19, 1943. … Hutson has 21 assists in his first 30 games becoming the eighth NHL defenseman ever to accomplish the feat. Only Larry Murphy (five goals, 27 assists), Nicklas Lidstrom (four goals, 23 assists), Brian Leetch (seven goals, 22 assists) and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks (two goals, 22 assists) have had more assists through their first 30 games. … Suzuki has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) during his seven-game point streak.