Canadiens Defeat Canucks in Overtime to Move Into Playoff Spot – The Hockey Writers Montreal Canadiens Latest News, Analysis & More

Monday night saw an all-Canadian matchup take place between the Montreal Canadiens and the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre. The Canadiens came into the game on a hot streak as they had just won four of their last five and seven of their last 10. The Canucks have unfortunately trailed off recently as they have lost three of their last four due to injuries to their key players. Luckily for Vancouver, captain Quinn Hughes returned to the lineup for his 400th NHL game, a needed addition for the Canucks.

Game Recap

Right as the puck dropped, the Canadiens controlled the play and the game. Their first highlight was Kaiden Ghule thumping Jonathan Lekkerimaki with a big hit in the neutral zone. Shortly after that hit, the Canadiens entered the offensive zone with the puck and Cole Caufield took a pass from Nick Suzuki and sniped it past Kevin Lankinen for an early 1-0 lead. The Canucks answered back after settling into the game. Just after the halfway mark of the first period, Nils Höglander controlled the puck on the left boards, and fired a pass to J.T. Miller and he one-timed it past Sam Montembeault to tie the game 1-1. After the Miller goal, both teams calmed down the pace and play driving diminished. The offence on both sides dried up and the period ended 1-1.

The second period saw the Canucks come out firing. The team took a 2-1 lead just over three minutes into the second period with another goal by Miller off of a Lekkerimaki rebound. Then just 21 seconds after Miller gave the Canucks the lead, Lekkerimaki scored a goal himself off the rush to give the Canucks a two-goal lead less than five minutes into a second period that started with a tie game. Vancouver’s two-goal lead shrank to one rather quickly after a Kaiden Guhle point shot found the back of the net to cut the Canucks lead to one goal and get Montreal back on the scoreboard. The game continued to see offence but both Lankinen and Montembeault were strong after the Guhle goal and the second period ended 3-2 Vancouver.

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The third period almost began with an early goal from a Tyler Myers breakaway. The defenceman picked off Jake Evans in the offensive zone and flew down the ice and rang the puck off the post and out. Montreal avoided disaster with that play, they were given new life and made the most of the fortunate bounce. The Canadiens were given a powerplay shortly after Vancouver hit the post and Kirby Dach scored to tie the game 3-3 very early in the frame. Montreal struck again shortly after with a goal by rookie Lane Hutson as he skated down the left wing boards and fired the puck off of his future Team USA teammate Quinn Hughes to give Montreal a 4-3 lead.

But Vancouver would not go away that easily. After a Caulfield penalty, the Canucks moved the puck around on the powerplay seamlessly and Jake DeBrusk got the puck with a wide-open net and he scored to tie the game 4-4. The pace continued with fast back-and-forth action but it could not be decided in regulation and the game headed to overtime.

After a third-period penalty by the Canucks, the Canadiens entered the overtime frame with a nearly two-minute powerplay. On the first possession of overtime, Montreal got the puck in the offensive zone and captain Nick Suzuki scored with a wrist shot to win the game sending the Canadiens fans home happy. With the win, the Canadiens moved into the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.