Canucks Start Road Trip Off With A 5–4 Overtime Loss To Montréal

The Vancouver Canucks started their five-game road trip with a 5–4 overtime loss to the Montréal Canadiens. J.T. Miller (2), Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and Jake DeBrusk scored for Vancouver. Cole Caufield, Kaiden Guhle, Kirby Dach, Lane Hutson, and Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadiens. Kevin Lankinen made 19 saves on 24 shots, while Sam Montembault made 16 saves on 20 shots.

Fans were ecstatic to hear prior to the game that Canucks captain Quinn Hughes could play as early as tonight. The defenceman took to the ice alongside Tyler Myers during warmups, and ultimately skated in his long-awaited 400th career NHL game. As well, Lekkerimäki slotted in for Dakota Joshua, the latter of which was placed on the IR earlier today. The top prospect started the game alongside Miller and Brock Boeser.

Montréal set the tone with a crop of hefty hits, as Guhle laid a crushing hit on Lekkerimäki. Shortly after, Caufield sent a quick shot past Lankinen and into the net. The physicality continued throughout the first bit of the first period, with Vancouver beginning to engage as well.

After a quick TV timeout, Vancouver applied some pressure on the forecheck, resulting in Nils Höglander getting the puck over to Miller. He fired the puck past Montembault for his seventh goal of the season. Conor Garland was later called for a slash, sending Montréal onto the power play. However, Vancouver’s penalty kill kept them far enough away from any overt danger.

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The physicality continued throughout the second period, but not to Vancouver’s delight. An open-ice hit left Derek Forbort curled up on the ground, with the defender leaving for the locker room only momentarily. Vancouver ramped up the pressure shortly after, with Max Sasson and Höglander leading the charge into the Canadiens’ zone.

The game remained tied until a quick rush by Lekkerimäki created a bounce off Montembault to Miller, who tucked in his second goal of the game. Immediately after, Miller broke the puck out up to Boeser, who fed it to Lekkerimäki for his second career NHL goal. Within a matter of seconds, Vancouver brought the lead up to 3–1.

After an interference call on Noah Juulsen was offset by the same penalty committed by Emil Heineman, Vancouver had a quick minute-long power play. While they weren’t able to score on this chance, there was a noticeable difference between this one and the power plays of the past four games. The Canucks stuck around in Montréal’s zone for longer periods of time, with Hughes preventing the puck from passing the Canadiens’ blue line.

Montréal had looked a little dull to start the second period. They were unable to capitalize on the power play provided by Juulsen’s penalty, but ended up making it 3–2 after an extended period of time spent crowded around Vancouver’s net. Lankinen made a few stops, but was ultimately unable to keep out Guhle’s wrist shot.

Since tonight’s game was on Prime Monday Night Hockey, fans were treated to a different broadcast experience, as Seattle Kraken play-by-play commentator John Forslund called the game. During the second intermission, Canucks icon and dragon-slayer Alex Burrows joined program hosts Adnan Virk and Blake Bolden for a look back at his Canucks career highlights.

Myers started the third period off with a quick shot that rang off the bar. Soon after, Kiefer Sherwood took a slashing penalty to send Montréal onto the power play. A rebound from Hutson came to Dach, who slid it home to tie the game 3–3 a little over two minutes into the final regulation frame. That wasn’t the end of Montréal’s scoring, however, as a shot thrown by Hutson bounced off of Hughes’ skate and into the net.

Shortly after surrendering the 4–3 goal, Vancouver was gifted a power play opportunity after Caufield took a slashing penalty. As Hughes pushed the play closer to Montréal’s net, he sent the puck over to Miller. His smooth pass was sent over to a patiently waiting DeBrusk, who tucked it past a turned Montebault.

Höglander had a good start to the game, as the scrappy forward made some big hits and helped bring energy to his line. However, with less than a minute left in the game, as he was trying to help suppress Montréal’s forecheck, he lost his stick. Still trying to help defend, his efforts ended up landing him an interference call that sent the Canadiens to a power play that trickled into overtime. Less than a minute into the extra frame, Suzuki scored to win the game for his team.

Facts and Stats:

• Quinn Hughes plays in his 400th career NHL game

• J.T. Miller has his 17th multi-goal game of his career, tying him for 21st in franchise history with Ron Sedlbauer

• Brock Boeser ties Cliff Ronning for 22nd in franchise history with 216 career assists

Scoring Summary:

1st Period:

1:07 – MTL: Cole Caufield (22) from Juraj Slafkovsky and Nick Suzuki

10:47 – VAN: J.T. Miller (7) from Nils Höglander

2nd Period:

3:21 – VAN: J.T. Miller (8) from Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Tyler Myers

3:41 – VAN: Jonathan Lekkerimäki (2) from Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller

10:35 – MTL: Kaiden Guhle (3) from Alexandre Carrier and Joel Armia

3rd Period:

2:01 – MTL: Kirby Dach (6) from Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki (PPG)

6:54 – MTL: Lane Hutson (3)

8:51 – VAN: Jake DeBrusk (17) from J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes (PPG)

Overtime:

0:48 – MTL: Nick Suzuki (12) from Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield (PPG)

Up Next:

Vancouver’s next stop on this five-game road trip is to D.C. on Wednesday to take on Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin is currently 23 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky in career goals scored, which is a number he could reach by the end of this season. Puck drop is scheduled for 4:30 pm PT.

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