Dach scores twice, Canadiens defeat Canucks

MONTREAL -- Kirby Dach scored twice for the Montreal Canadiens in a 5-2 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Bell Centre on Wednesday.

Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for Montreal (7-6-1), and Sam Montembeault made 31 saves after Jake Allen made 41 in a 3-2 shootout victory at the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.
"Our start was great, and when you're feeling that way, it's tough to come from behind," Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher said. "So, to get out front in these games is important and we kept playing good hockey right up until a little bit in the third period [when] we had some lapses."

Luke Schenn and Nils Hoglander scored, and Thatcher Demko made 24 saves for Vancouver (4-7-3), which was also playing the second of a back to back after winning 6-4 at the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday. The Canucks were 4-1-1 in their previous six games.
"Right from the start we were chasing, and I don't think we came out the way we wanted," Vancouver forward Elias Pettersson said. "And they were hungrier than us to start."
Dach's second goal of the game at 15:02 of the third period put Montreal up 5-2 after the Canucks scored twice to draw within two.
"We knew they were coming off the back to back, we were coming off a back to back, so the start was crucial," Dach said. "And I feel like through 40 minutes, we dictated the play and we had a good team game going.
"We let off the gas a little bit at the start of the third, and they capitalized. It was good maturity for our group to kind of lock it down and finish the game strong."

Suzuki gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 55 seconds into the first period. He took a pass from Jonathan Drouin and scored on a shot between Demko's pads from the right side.
Arber Xhekaj made it 2-0 at 8:47 on a wrist shot from the right point off a face-off won by Sean Monahan.
Dach extended it to 3-0 with an unassisted goal at 12:23 when he steered a shot between Demko's legs after forcing J.T. Miller to turn over the puck in the slot.
Hoffman put Montreal up 4-0 at 13:01 of the second period, scoring on a wrist shot stick side.
"We just wanted to play on top of them tonight," Xhekaj said. "They play a fast game and they got on top of guys, but we just wanted to play on top of them. And, obviously, for us to take advantage of that and score some goals - it was big for us."

Schenn scored his first goal of the season at 4:45 of the third to draw Vancouver within 4-1. Hoglander then cut it to 4-2 at 8:57 when he shot past Montembeault's glove on a rebound of Pettersson's shot.
Quinn Hughes had an assist, his 11th during an eight-game point streak.
"There's no excuse for the way we started tonight," Canucks forward Bo Horvat said. "I thought there were parts of our game that I really liked, but it just obviously wasn't good enough all around."
NOTES: Horvat and Miller ended their respective point streaks. Miller had 10 points (five goals, five assists) during a seven-game streak, and Horvat had 10 points (eight goals, two assists) in five games. … Suzuki leads the Canadiens with 17 points (nine goals, eight assists). ... Montreal was missing two suspended forwards; forward
Josh Anderson
served the last of a two-game suspension after boarding Alex Pietrangelo of the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, and forward
Juraj Slafkovsky
served the first of a two-game suspension for boarding Matt Luff of the Red Wings on Tuesday.