Laine stays hot, Canadiens edge Ducks in shootout

MONTREAL -- Patrik Laine had a goal and an assist for the Montreal Canadiens, who won 3-2 in a shootout against the Anaheim Ducks at Bell Centre on Monday.

Laine, who also scored on Montreal’s first attempt in the tiebreaker, has three power-play goals in four games since returning from a knee injury he sustained in a preseason game on Sept. 28.

“His shot is so hard to stop for a goalie,” Canadiens goalie Sam Montembeault said. “So, on their side, they’ve got to respect that.”

Montembeault didn’t allow a goal on Anaheim’s shootout two attempts after making 27 saves for Montreal (11-14-3), which has won three of four.

“It’s a team that we know that if we play the right way, if we play our game as a team, that it’s a game that we can take,” Montembeault said. “And they came hard, you’ve got to give them credit.”

Troy Terry scored twice, and Lukas Dostal made 19 saves for Anaheim (10-12-4), which lost its third straight.

“You don’t have to try to get up for this game, it’s just the atmosphere and playing here is always one of my favorites,” Terry said. “I thought our team did a great job tonight. It was a fun, fast hockey game.”

Terry hit the crossbar with 37 seconds remaining in overtime, and Montembeault made a glove save on Frank Vatrano with 3:00 left in the third to keep it tied.

“I felt good tonight so I was hoping that I could get it done,” Terry said. “That’s just kind of the way it goes.”

Laine gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 2:36 of the first period, one-timingNick Suzuki’s cross-ice pass from the left face-off circle.

Terry tied it 1-1 at 10:49. After setting up a shot by Cam Fowler, he scored on the rebound with his backhand in the slot.

“The first period was one of the best periods we’ve played,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “It kind of resembled the way we’ve been playing when we’re winning.”

Terry scored his second goal on a power play at 4:25 of the second period to put Anaheim up 2-1. He set up on the left edge of the crease and tapped in Alex Killorn’s pass from the right face-off dot.

Kirby Dach tied it 2-2 just 11 seconds later. After Dostal misplayed a dump-in by Laine, Dach took Juraj Slafkovsky’s pass from behind the net and scored with a wrist shot before the Ducks goalie could get back in position.

It was his first goal since Oct. 26

“It’s kind of the only way one was going to go in, I guess, was to have the whole open net in front of me,” Dach said. “So it was nice. 'Slaf' made a good play and it’s definitely encouraging.”

Dach had gone 19 games without a goal and nine without a point. Slafkovsky, who has two goals in 25 games, had gone four games without a point.

“I was happy because I feel like when you score a couple of goals you get your confidence back, and pretty much that’s what he needs. That’s what I need,” Slafkovsky said.

Jacob Trouba was paired with Fowler and played 22:35 with one shot on goal and five hits in his Anaheim debut. He was acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers on Friday.

“I mean, he’s always hard to play against,” Terry said. “You know he’s this big physical guy and he’s good defensively. I thought he was up in the play a lot tonight offensively. It felt like a few times whenever I got space in the offensive zone he was in a good spot for a pass or a chance to score. So, I thought he was great.”

NOTES: Lane Hutson got the secondary assist on Laine’s goal to extend his assist and point streaks to seven games (eight assists), each of which is a record for a Canadiens rookie defenseman. ... Hutson has 21 assists in his first 30 games, becoming the eighth NHL defenseman to accomplish the feat. Only Larry Murphy (five goals, 27 assists), Nicklas Lidstrom (four goals, 23 assists), Brian Leetch (seven goals, 22 assists) and Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks (two goals, 22 assists) have had more assists through their first 30 games. … Suzuki has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) during a seven-game point streak.