Sam Montembeault stopped 36 shots and Jordan Harris and Joel Armia each had a goal with an assist on Tuesday as the host Montreal Canadiens posted a needed 4-2 win that extended the Arizona Coyotes’ losing streak to 13 games.
Arizona outshot the Canadiens 38-21, but Montembeault was solid when needed. He yielded a second-period goal to Alex Kerfoot and a late tally to Nick Bjugstad but otherwise was not severely tested as Montreal snapped a five-game skid.
Harris, a defenseman, was a surprise offensive hero despite entering with one goal and six points in 34 games. Tanner Pearson and Nick Suzuki (empty-netter) also scored for the Canadiens.
Playing without injured star Clayton Keller (upper-body injury), Arizona had its chances but fell to 0-11-2 since a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 22. It’s the fourth-longest winless stretch in franchise history.
Arizona was the offensive aggressor early and outshot the Canadiens 11-5 in the first period but had nothing to show for it and allowed Montreal to open the scoring 7:52 into the game. A simple breakout play for the Canadiens turned into a two-on-one with Alex Newhook feeding Armia for his 10th goal.
The Canadiens made it 2-0 at 4:52 of the second period. Off a blocked shot, Montreal again found itself amid a two-on-one surge, where Harris kept the puck and beat Arizona’s Connor Ingram (20 saves).
Just 2:50 later, the Coyotes finally got on the board. Amid some traffic in front and around the Canadiens net, Kerfoot got the puck behind the goal and tucked it over the line. Kerfoot was appearing in his 500th NHL game.
Montreal extended its advantage 5:14 into the third, and again via some shoddy Arizona defense. This time, Harris got the puck at his own blue line and sent a modest stretch pass to Pearson, who got behind the Coyotes’ defense and chipped it past Ingram.
Bjugstad made it interesting with a knuckler that caught Montembeault out of position with 5:37 remaining in regulation.
Arizona is also amid an 0-7-3 stretch on the road.
–Field Level Media
