Newhook scores twice, Canadiens defeat Ducks to end 4-game losing streak

ANAHEIM -- Alex Newhook scored his second goal of the game with 3:20 left in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Jake Evans had two assists, and Sam Montembeault made 30 saves for the Canadiens (8-9-2), who had lost seven in a row at Honda Center (0-6-1). It was their first regulation win since 3-1 against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 23.

"Coming on the road here, we thought it was an opportunity to get back on the right track and have that kind of desperate mindset," Newhook said. "It wasn't perfect, but to find a way to win here is huge for us and we've got to carry it over to the next few games."

Mason McTavish had two goals and an assist, Frank Vatrano had a goal and an assist, and John Gibson made 24 saves for the Ducks (9-10-0), who have lost four in a row.

"We had quality chances," Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. "I'll take those chances for the next whatever games we've got. We had plenty of chances to score."

Newhook finished off a 2-on-1 rush for the 4-3 lead after the Ducks turned the puck over in the offensive zone during 4-on-4 play.

Vatrano tied it 3-3 at 11:31 of the third with a wrist shot off a criss-cross play with McTavish, his 13th goal of the season.

"I honestly liked our third, we had a lot of chances," McTavish said. "I thought [Gibson] was great today too. It’s just the way it goes, there’s a lot of games and you can’t get too down on yourself and hopefully we get out of this little losing streak."

Newhook gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 5:59 of the first period. Tanner Pearson made a seam pass to Newhook in the slot, and he settled the puck before scoring with a wrist shot. The goal came six seconds after the Ducks killed off the first power play of the game.

Kaiden Guhle made it 2-0 just 38 seconds later. Anaheim lost possession in the neutral zone, and Evans made a short pass to Jesse Ylonen to spring a 2-on-1 break. Ylonen fed the puck ahead to Guhle, who scored with a redirection from in front of the crease at 6:37.

"I think it gave guys confidence," Evans said of the early lead. "I feel like we were coming in waves at the beginning too, and everyone's got a lot of confidence to make the right plays."

McTavish made it 2-1 with a power-play goal 53 seconds into the second period. Leo Carlsson fed McTavish for a redirection from in close just five seconds into the man-advantage.

Mike Matheson restored the two-goal lead for Montreal 56 seconds later, receiving a pass just inside the blue line with room to skate in and score with a wrist shot to make it 3-1 at 1:49.

The Ducks couldn't capitalize on back-to-back odd-man rushes, but they did on their third when McTavish scored at 6:00 off a spinning feed from just above the goal line by Vatrano, cutting it to 3-2.

Montembeault made 12 saves in the opening period, his best on a redirection by Alex Killorn off the rush at 18:10. He made a glove save on a one-timer by Vatrano off a 2-on-1 rush at 6:36 of the third to preserve the one-goal lead.

"He's unreal for us," Newhook said of Montembeault. "I think he might've had the two saves of the year. ... When he's playing like that, he's fun to watch and he backed us up tonight."

NOTES: Montreal defenseman Jayden Struble played 8:27 in his NHL debut. Struble was a second-round pick (No. 46) by the Canadiens in the 2019 NHL Draft. ... Ducks rookie defenseman Tristan Luneau got his first NHL point with an assist on McTavish's goal. He was in the lineup for the first time since a 2-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes Oct. 21. Luneau replaced fellow rookie Jackson LaCombe, who was scratched for the first time this season. ... McTavish has four multigoal games with the Ducks, surpassing Trevor Zegras and Paul Kariya for the most in their history before turning 21. ... Anaheim allowed the first goal for the fifth straight game and eighth in the past nine.