Canadiens blow 2-goal lead against Golden Knights for 10th loss of season
Goals from Suzuki, Toffoli not enough to keep Vegas at bay
The Vegas Golden Knights hadn't scored on the power play since June 6, but their man advantage clicked Saturday and two power-play goals were the difference in a 5-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
"Tonight was not just a poor start, that was a horrendous start," said Vegas head coach Peter DeBoer. "Thankfully our goalie was our best player early and we got a lot of character in that room and the guys fixed it."
Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner allowed two first-period goals but was perfect afterward, blocking 36 of 38 shots total.
"He's been outstanding all year, tonight's another example of it," said Alex Pietrangelo of Lehner. "So when there's a storm for us, he lets us get to our game. But I think we've got to get to our game early, we can't rely on him every single first period."
"Obviously we weren't happy with how we came out," Lehner said. "We stepped up in the locker room (in the first intermission). Leaders, the coach, everyone said it's enough and I think after the two-on-one that they had, I think we played excellent for the rest of the game."
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With how his team showed up in the first period, Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme was adamant that his team should have gotten more from the game.
"We started the (second period) and we still had some chances," Ducharme said. "They took advantage of the play that deflected on (Jeff) Petry but this happens. All in all, they took advantage of their chances and I think that we deserved better.
"With the scoring chances at 23-7, I would take that every night. I think that nine times out of 10, we would get the win."
Suzuki picked up one goal and one assist for the Canadiens. Toffoli added Montreal's second marker. Canadiens netminder Jake Allen saved 13 of the 16 shots sent his way.
Montreal dropped to 3-10-0 on the season.
"I know the way we can play, I believe in all the guys to get out of this," Suzuki said. "We outshot them by a ton, the goalie made some good saves and it could have been a different game."
Vegas bridged the gap in the second period with goals from Pietrangelo, Jonathan Marchessault and Dylan Coghlan. Chandler Stephenson and Brayden McNabb added empty-net goals in the third.
Pietrangelo's shot deflected off Petry and past Allen at 5:16. His marker was the Golden Knights' first power-play goal since Game 4 of the second round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs against Colorado.
"We've been hearing about it," DeBoer said. "Every time you go another game without scoring on (the power play), you hear about it, so that pressure starts to build. It's taken a little bit of time but obviously timely tonight and nice that we won't have to deal with that goose egg anymore."
Marchessault levelled the score for Vegas with 9:36 to go in the second period.
Vegas found the go-ahead goal, once again on the power play, with Coghlan's first of the season at 12:00.
"It's a little bit frustrating and I think we've been creating more (power-play) opportunities here in the last week or so," said Pietrangelo. "It's not good enough for the amount of talent that we have to not have scored a goal so we knew that."
Without key players William Karlsson and Max Pacioretty, the Golden Knights cap off their four-game road trip on Sunday as they take on the Detroit Red Wings.
After losing 4-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs last Tuesday, Vegas has an opportunity for a three-game winning streak having beaten the Ottawa Senators 5-1 and the Canadiens 5-2.
