The Canadiens made too many mistakes and ended up getting burned against the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
Jack Eichel broke the tie late in the third period on the power play and added two assists as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated Montreal 6-5 on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
He scored while Brendan Gallagher was in the dungeon.
“I’ll have to review the sequence, but it was a big factor in the outcome of the game,” head coach Martin St-Louis said of the high-sticking penalty against Gallagher.
“This is something that cannot happen,” he insisted a little later.
The Habs scored at least four goals in regulation for just the second time this season. They previously accomplished the feat in their season opener, when they lost 6-5 in a shootout to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
However, he squandered leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 against the Golden Knights, who never gave up.
“Against Calgary (Tuesday), we were losing on the board, but they weren’t beating us on the ice. Today, we were winning on the board, but they were beating us on the ice,” St-Louis said. “We have to be honest. We played with fire and we got burned.”
Jesse Ylönen scored twice, Alex Newhook had a goal and an assist, while Johnathan Kovacevic and Justin Barron also scored for the Canadiens (7-8-2), who suffered their third straight loss. Nick Suzuki and Mike Matheson each had two assists and Cayden Primeau made 36 saves.
“I read the play well and I’m in the right place, which is the most important thing,” Primeau said. “I feel like my feet are in the right place most of the time.”
Shea Theodore had a goal and three assists and Mark Stone had a goal and two assists for the Golden Knights (13-3-1), who also got goals from Brayden McNabb, Brett Howden and Jonathan Marchessault. Adin Hill stopped 23 shots.
The Canadiens lost defenseman Arber Xhekaj in the second period. He headed to the locker room shortly after taking a hard check from Ivan Barbashev. The team said he has an upper-body injury and will be re-evaluated Friday.
Forward Michael Pezzetta was inserted into the Canadiens’ lineup for this game. He took the place of Rafael Harvey-Pinard, who is struggling with a lower-body injury. Harvey-Pinard’s condition will be reassessed on a daily basis.
The Canadiens will play their next game on Saturday, when they visit the Bruins in Boston.
The fathers of the Canadiens players were invited to the Bell Centre on Thursday and those present will accompany the team this weekend to Boston.
Offensive Festival
After a nice tribute to Karl Tremblay , singer of the Cowboys Fringants who died Wednesday, the Canadian scored two goals in the first period for the first time this season.
Newhook scored on the Canadiens’ first shot at 6:43, with the visitors already up by eight. He surprised Hill on the shield side.
Kovacevic beat Hill in turn, aiming at the same spot at 10:03, after a shot from Newhook hit Golden Knights forward Michael Amadio near the slot.
Newhook ended a 13-game goal drought, while Kovacevic scored his first goal of the season in his 17th outing.
At the other end of the ice, Primeau made a number of saves. He beat William Karlsson five times during the period, including at least four times on quality chances.
“They’re some of the best players in the world and they’re a dangerous attack that moves the puck well on the power play. I was just trying to follow the play,” Primeau said.
The official scorer was busy in the second period, when both teams scored a total of six goals.
Howden got the Golden Knights on the board with a short-handed goal at 2:33.
Ylönen scored his first goal of the game at 8:28, coming off a breakaway after intercepting a puck at the visitors’ blue line.
McNabb responded 18 seconds later for the Golden Knights. He was hit by a shot from Theodore as he passed through the slot, then surprised Primeau, who was looking for the puck.
Marchessault tied the game 3-3 at 11:20 on a two-on-one, but the Canadiens regained the lead 33 seconds later. Ylönen took advantage of a pass from Michael Pezzetta from behind the net to beat Hill with a one-timer.
Theodore came back at 16:07, however, allowing the Golden Knights to tie the game 4-4 before the end of the second period. He beat Primeau with a long shot during a power play.
Gallagher was assessed a double minor penalty for high sticking with 2:51 left in regulation, opening the door for the Golden Knights.
Eichel took advantage to beat Primeau in the upper part of the glove side 55 seconds later.
After an insurance goal from Stone, Barron gave the fans hope by reducing the deficit to 6-5 with 53.2 seconds left on the clock. Hill, however, resisted the Habs’ final assault.
