Subban hits milestone in Predators victory against Canadiens

MONTREAL -- P.K. Subban got his 300th NHL assist against his former team, and the Nashville Predators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Subban has four assists in four games against the Canadiens since he was acquired by the Predators for Shea Weber on June 29, 2016.
Craig Smith scored two goals, Mattias Ekholm had a goal and an assist, and Juuse Saros made 27 saves for Nashville (25-15-3), which has won three of four (3-0-1) following a six-game losing streak (0-5-1).
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Canadiens highlights]
"It's a big two points for us," Subban said. "We haven't had much consistency in our game over the past 15 to 20 games so it's a big win for us now getting three out of the first four points on the road."
Weber scored his sixth goal for Montreal (22-15-5), which lost for the second time in seven games (5-2-0). Carey Price made 28 saves.
"They played last night, and they came out with a better effort to start the game and caught us sleeping a little bit, and then it was a little bit too late," Weber said.
Smith scored for a third straight game to make it 1-0 at 10:44 of the first period. He scored his 13th goal and extended his point streak to five games on a rebound of Subban's one-timer from the point.

Ekholm's fourth goal at 19:24 made it 2-0. His slap shot from the left side deflected off Canadiens forward Max Domi's stick and sailed into the top right corner.
Weber scored his second goal in three games against his former team to make it 2-1 at 12:47 of the second period.
His goal was still being announced when Smith scored his 14th 18 seconds later to make it 3-1.
"In terms of responses, that was probably the one that meant [the most] so far this year just because we're coming off a tough game and you have a two-goal lead," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "They close it and you immediately go down and score a goal, so that's really important, and [Smith] had just a super-strong game."

Subban got his second assist to reach the milestone on the wraparound goal, which was upheld on a challenge by Montreal coach Claude Julien for goaltender interference.
"It was just simple," Smith said. "It was a hard forecheck, we got it up, [Subban] just found a hole to get it in and you never know what can happen."
Viktor Arvidsson scored into an empty net to make it 4-1 with 45 seconds remaining in the third.
"You can't just come in and think you can come in and just play," Julien said. "You've got to play with a purpose, and you've got to play with an edge, and you've got to want to be better than the other team, and that wasn't the case tonight."

They said it

"They're young, they're fast, they're quick and they're skilled, and I thought we did a remarkable job with our sticks through the neutral zone and all three zones. Their skill players, it was a tough night for them. They didn't have much time and space and I thought we did a good job of closing our gaps, playing tight. In the [defensive] zone, when they would spin out of checks, we were right there again. And that's what you have to do to win on the road. You can't give teams breathing space." -- Predators defenseman P.K. Subban
"He was physical, he was fast, he was competitive on pucks and obviously chipped in the offense as well." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on forward Craig Smith
"That's a tough team to come back against, especially after the first [period]. I think they've only lost two games this year leading after the first." -- Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber about Nashville, which is 10-1-1 when leading after the first period

Need to know

Predators forward Colton Sissons returned and was plus-2 in 14:29 after missing seven games because of a lower-body injury. … Nashville forward Miikka Salomaki did not play. He is day-to-day because of an upper-body injury he sustained Friday against the Detroit Red Wings. … Subban had 215 assists in seven seasons with the Canadiens and 85 in three seasons with the Predators. … Canadiens rookie forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi got his 20th point (four goals, 16 assists) with an assist on Weber's goal. The 18-year-old joined Mario Tremblay and Petr Svoboda as the third Montreal player to score 20 points before the age of 19.

What's next

Predators: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, TVAS, SNO, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: Host the Minnesota Wild on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, FS-N, NHL.TV)