STL@MTL: Game recap

MONTREAL – The Canadiens’ four-game losing streak came to an end on Saturday with a triumphant 5-2 win over the Blues at the Bell Centre.

The victory gave the Habs a 5-1 record in six home games against St. Louis dating back to 2018-19.

Joel Armia, Kirby Dach and Jake Evans notched their first goals of the season. Alex Newhook tallied his second on the campaign, while Cole Caufield scored his team-leading seventh goal with assists from captain Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson.

The former extended his point streak to six games (2G, 7A), while the latter is at seven points (7A) in only his 10th NHL game. According to NHL Public Relations, he became the first rookie defenseman in Canadiens history with seven helpers through his first 10 career games with the franchise. The 20-year-old also joins Cale Makar and Moritz Seider as one of three rookie blue-liners since 2019-20 with seven or more assists through their first 10 career regular-season games.

Following a two-game stint as a healthy scratch, Arber Xhekaj returned to the lineup and formed a pairing with Jayden Struble. During his postgame press conference, head coach Martin St-Louis praised Xhekaj, who was on the ice for 20:34. "He was excellent throughout the game," he said.

Samuel Montembeault turned aside 29 shots. For more stats, check out the NHL’s Gamecenter summary here.

Montreal goals

P1 08:34 0-[1] Evans (Armia, Savard)

P2 01:12 0-[2] Dach (Suzuki, Matheson)

P2 14:04 2-[3] Newhook (Dach, Matheson) - PPG

P3 05:19 2-[4] Caufield (Suzuki, Hutson)

P3 16:49 2-[5] Armia (Dvorak, Evans) - EN

St. Louis goals

P2 01:33 [1]-2 Parayko (M. Joseph, Suter)

P2 04:02 [2]-2 Neighbours (Saad, Schenn)

Postgame news

Following the game, Montreal announced that they have recalled forward Lucas Condotta from the Laval Rocket. The Rocket captain has three assists in six AHL games this season. This is the first time he has been called up by the Canadiens this campaign.

What’s next

The Canadiens will jet off to Philadelphia for a meeting with the Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Fans can catch all the action on television (TSN2, RDS) or tune in on the radio (TSN 690, 98.5 fm).

Back at the Bell Centre next Tuesday, the team will host the Seattle Kraken and Halloween Night presented by Haribo. Fans are encouraged to dress up for a chance to win 500$ at Tricolore Sports. For tickets, click here.