Ryan Poehling scored twice in a 37-second span as the host Montreal Canadiens overcame Matt Duchene’s hat trick in a 6-3 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Tyler Toffoli collected a goal and two assists, Artturi Lehkonen had one of each and Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher also tallied as the Canadiens halted a four-game losing skid (0-3-1).
Jonathan Drouin and defenseman Chris Wideman each notched two assists to help Sam Montembeault (33 saves) notch his first victory of the season.
Nashville’s Juuse Saros yielded five goals on 19 shots before being relieved by David Rittich (nine saves).
Duchene netted a pair of third-period power-play goals before capping his hat trick with 3:33 remaining in the game.
Mikael Granlund and Ryan Johansen had two assists apiece for the Predators, who were playing their first game since dropping a 3-0 setback to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. Nashville’s scheduled game in Ottawa two days later was postponed by the NHL after the Senators’ COVID-19 outbreak.
A brilliant second effort from Lehkonen allowed Montreal to open the scoring at 2:41 of the first period. Lehkonen stuffed the puck home at the doorstep after a sharp feed by Jake Evans from the left circle.
Nashville nearly forged a tie later in the period, but referee Corey Syvret quickly waved it off after Luke Kunin was deemed to have directed the puck into the net with his arm.
Dvorak atoned for an egregious giveaway in the neutral zone in the first period by doubling the advantage 1:06 into the second. Dvorak converted a sterling backhanded feed by Josh Anderson for his third goal of the season and second in three games.
Montreal tacked on another goal 2 1/2 minutes later while on the power play. Toffoli circled the net before finding Drouin, who immediately connected with Gallagher for his team co-leading fourth goal of the season.
Poehling scored from the left faceoff dot at 9:31 of the second period before unleashing a blast from above the circles 37 seconds later to stake the Canadiens to a 5-0 lead.
–Field Level Media
