MONTREAL (AP) — Nick Suzuki had two goals and an assist and the Montreal Canadiens cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night.
The red-hot Suzuki extended his point streak to a career-high eight games — producing 13 points in that span — and is up to 51 points in 53 outings this season.
Cayden Primeau faced little action, making 13 saves in his first start since Jan. 20 as Montreal earned its first shutout of the season.
“I really wasn’t tested much,” Primeau said. “It’s just all credit to them (teammates).”
Juraj Slafkovsky, who connected with Suzuki all night, had a goal and two assists for the first three-point game of his career. Jake Evans and Brandon Gignac — with his first NHL goal — also scored for the Canadiens.
It was a standout performance for Montreal’s trio of Suzuki, Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield.
“It’s encouraging, they’re finding consistency, it’s hard not to be excited about that,” head coach Martin St. Louis said. “It’s fun to watch, not just the result, it’s how they’re playing together that’s exciting for me.”
The Canadiens’ top players made the Ducks pay on the power play, going 2 for 6 on the night.
“Terrible,” Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler said. “That’s all I got for you.”
Lukas Dostal stopped 33 shots for Anaheim, which was shut out for the sixth time this season.
Evans scored first 1:43 into the second period with his third goal of the season and first in 25 games, beating Dostal with a backhand after a give-and-go play with Tanner Pearson.
Suzuki doubled the lead at 9:37 to extend his streak. Slafkovsky patiently skated around Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov on the break before laying a pinpoint pass to Suzuki, who tipped it in.
The two forwards connected again later in the period, this time on the power play, as Suzuki hammered home a cross-ice pass from Suzuki into an open cage to make it 3-0 with three minutes left in the period.
“It’s Nick,” Slafkovsky said. “You never know when it comes right on your tape and you just have to put it in. I mean, Nick is a great player.”
In full control, the Canadiens led the shots by a 29-9 margin after 40 minutes.
“You can deal with wins and losses, but when you go out there and perform like that as a team, that’s when you have to start looking in the mirror,” Fowler said. “They did a great job, they played hard. We didn’t, and that’s why you see a result like that.”
Montreal added another power-play marker at 7:26 of the third. This time, Suzuki fed Slafkovsky for his 11th of the season.
Gignac, 26, scored his first goal on a 2-on-0 to make it 5-0 with under three minutes left as Montreal won the game handily — but not before tempers flared as players on both teams dropped the gloves in the final minutes.
UP NEXT
Ducks: At Ottawa on Thursday night.
Canadiens: At New York Rangers on Thursday night.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
The Associated Press
