Patrik Laine scored his eighth power-play goal of the season and Nick Suzuki topped the 200 career assist mark with a pair of them Saturday night when the host Montreal Canadiens swept a back-to-back against the Detroit Red Wings with their 5-1 victory.
Each of Laine’s goals in nine games since making his long-awaited Montreal debut Dec. 3 have come on the power play. After scoring the tiebreaker in the third period of Friday’s 4-3 win at Detroit, Laine capped the scoring from a three-goal first Saturday for the Canadiens, who are amid a season-high three-game winning streak.
Montreal’s Jake Evans and Emil Heineman also scored for a second straight night, while Juraj Slafkovsky and Brendan Gallagher each had a goal. Suzuki, meanwhile, notched career assists 200 and 201 in the first and Sam Montembeault made 20 saves in his ninth straight start for the Canadiens.
Joe Veleno also scored in a second straight game for Detroit, which got 19 saves on 24 shots faced from Alex Lyon. The Red Wings have allowed 41 goals during their current 3-6-2 stretch.
Moments after Detroit’s Dylan Larkin missed an empty cage on the power play, Montreal native Veleno opened the scoring 6:41 into the first after waiting on the doorstep of the Canadiens’ net to push in Jonatan Berggren’s pass.
However, Montreal eventually answered with two goals over a 1:12 span of the opening frame.
First, Slafkovsky redirected Suzuki’s shot into the Red Wings’ net with 5:46 left before the first intermission. Shortly after, Evans weaved into the slot, then snapped the puck past Lyon.
With 39 seconds left in the first, Laine extended his power-play goal total on what appeared to be a pass for Slafkovsky to tip in, but instead redirected in off the stick of Detroit’s Ben Chiarot. Laine, who missed the first 24 games with a knee injury, has five goals in three games.
Montreal made it 4-1 at 2:40 into the second. Off a Detroit turnover, Christian Dvorak dropped a back-handed pass for Heineman to convert. Gallagher then snapped a 13-game goal drought with 6:57 left in the second.
–Field Level Media
