National Hockey League
Montreal 3, Vancouver 1
When: 10:00 PM ET, Tuesday, December 17, 2019
Where: Rogers Arena, Vancouver, British Columbia
Referees: Gord Dwyer, Kendrick Nicholson
Linesmen: Brandon Gawryletz, Bevan Mills
Attendance: 18788

Tomas Tatar and Shea Weber scored power-play goals in the opening 3:25 of the third period as the Montreal Canadiens broke a tie and defeated the host Vancouver Canucks 3-1 Tuesday night.

Nick Cousins also scored, and Max Domi and Joel Armia each had two assists for the Canadiens, who opened a seven-game trip by improving to 8-4-3 on the road.

Montreal goaltender Carey Price made 38 saves to post his 335th career victory, passing Cam Ward for 23rd place on the NHL's all-time wins list.

Adam Gaudette scored for the Canucks, who lost for the fourth time in five games. Jacob Markstrom stopped 27 of 30 shots.

With the score tied at 1-1, the Canadiens got a power-play opportunity when Vancouver's Jake Virtanen was called for slashing Montreal's Phillip Danault just 22 seconds into the third period.

Brendan Gallagher controlled the puck along the right boards and passed to Danault, who was tripped by Vancouver's Tanner Pearson and falling to the ice while he shoveled a pass to Tatar on the left wing. Tatar deked to his forehand and beat Markstrom at 1:51 to extend his goal streak to four games and his point streak to five (four goals, two assists).

Pearson's penalty gave the Canadiens a second straight power play, and they again took advantage. They passed the puck along the top of the faceoff circles until Armia found Weber in the left circle, and Weber beat Markstrom with a wrist shot at 3:25.

The Canucks opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 18:21 of the first period. Josh Leivo won a battle for the puck along the right boards and passed back to Tyler Myers at the point. Myers made a cross-ice pass to Gaudette, who skated into the left faceoff circle before beating Price with a wrist shot that went just under the crossbar.

The Canadiens tied the score at 8:05 of the second on a three-on-two break. Domi carried the puck over the blue line and made a lead pass to Cousins, who was skating down the right wing. Cousins' one-timer made it 1-1.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Montreal   Vancouver
Joel Armia 2 Points Adam Gaudette 1
Nick Cousins 1 Goals Adam Gaudette 1
Joel Armia 2 Assists Josh Leivo 1
Tomas Tatar 1 Power Play Goals Adam Gaudette 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Carey Price .974 Save Percentage Jacob Markstrom .900
Carey Price 38 Saves Jacob Markstrom 27
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Montreal 30 3 2-2 3-4 8 28
Vancouver 39 1 1-4 0-2 4 26
Upcoming Games
  • Vancouver will play their next game at home against Vegas. The Canucks have a W/L % of .438 after a win and .474 after a loss.
  • Montreal will play their next game on the road against Calgary. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .438 after a win and .500 after a loss.