Laine scores again as Canadiens beat Red Wings 5-1 to take two-game series on consecutive nights

Canada’s Montreal, Quebec-MONTREAL (AP) The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-1 on Saturday, their second consecutive victory, thanks to another goal from Patrik Laine on the power play.

In Montreal’s season-high third consecutive victory, goals were also scored by Brendan Gallagher, Emil Heineman, Jake Evans, and Juraj Slafkovsky. Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki both contributed two assists.

MONTREAL, CANADA-DECEMBER 21: In the third period of the NHL regular season game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Detroit Red Wings at the Bell Centre, Jake Evans #71 of the Montreal Canadiens takes a shot on Alex Lyon #34 of the Detroit Red Wings.

Against Detroit, Sam Montembeault made his tenth straight start and his second in two nights, stopping 20 shots. On Friday, the Canadiens defeated the Red Wings 4–2 in Detroit.

Alex Lyon made 19 stops, while Joe Veleno gave Detroit the lead early in the first.

Since returning from a preseason knee injury, Laine has scored eight goals in nine games, all while using the man-advantage. With 39 seconds remaining in the first period, he attempted a pass from the left circle and beat Lyon.

Takeaways

Red Wings: Detroit fell behind Montreal to seventh place in the Atlantic Division. After scoring once in his first 26 games of the season, Montreal native Veleno, 24, scored in his third consecutive game.

Canadiens: Since Laine’s debut on December 3, Montreal has improved to 6-3-0 and appears to be a different squad.

Key moment

Halfway through the first period, Laine’s shot deflected into the netting, breaking Moritz Seider’s stick for the second consecutive night. Laine’s one-timer on Friday night broke Seider’s stick on its way in, and he scored the game-winning goal.

Key stat

Laine scored eight consecutive power-play goals for a team, making him the first player to do it since 1933–34. He also became the third forward, after Owen Nolan (1995–96) and Yvan Cournoyer (1966–67, 1965–66), to score his first eight goals of a season with the man-advantage.

Up Next

On Monday, the Red Wings will host St. Louis, while the Canadiens will travel to Columbus.

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