Canadiens erase early deficit to edge Canucks

Ivan Demidov collected a goal and two assists and Juraj Slafkovsky had one of each, fueling the visiting Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. Montreal captain Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal to extend his point streak to nine games. Mike Matheson also tallied, fellow defenseman Alexandre Carrier notched two assists and Jakub Dobes finished with 28 saves to improve to 5-0-0 on the season. The Canadiens overcame a two-goal deficit to post their seventh win in their last nine games. Vancouver's Elias Pettersson recorded a goal and two assists for his first multi-point performance of the season. Conor Garland scored and set up a goal to reach the 300-point plateau. Jake DeBrusk converted on the power play and Kevin Lankinen turned aside 20 shots for the Canucks, who have lost three in a row. Matheson faked his shot to create some space before wiring his attempt from above the circles that handcuffed Lankinen to give Montreal a 3-2 lead at 8:19 remaining of the third period. The Canadiens extended their advantage after Demidov's blast from the right circle before Garland deflected home Pettersson's drive with 3:47 to play. With the Canadiens trailing 2-0, Suzuki converted from a sharp angle from just above the goal line to halve the deficit with 4:57 remaining in the second period. Slafkovsky cleaned up a loose puck on the doorstep to forge a 2-2 tie at 1:50 of the third period. Defenseman Filip Hronek accepted a drop pass from Pettersson before skating wide of the net. He alertly wired a sharp feed to Pettersson, who converted from the left doorstep to open the scoring at 4:42 of the first period. Montreal's Josh Anderson hit the post on a short-handed breakaway before DeBrusk doubled the advantage at 6:42 of the second period. DeBrusk tipped home captain Quinn Hughes' blast from the point for his second goal of the season. –Field Level Media

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