Sam Montembeault made 29 saves and Patrik Laine scored his second power-play goal in as many games, lifting the host Montreal Canadiens to a 3-0 victory over the reeling Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Montembeault turned aside all 13 shots he faced in the third period to preserve his third shutout of the season and fourth in his career.
Jake Evans collected a goal and an assist, Laine converted a 5-on-3 man-advantage and Joel Armia found the empty net to seal the win.
Captain Nick Suzuki and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson each notched an assist to extend their respective point streaks to five games for the Canadiens, who improved to 2-0-0 on their five-game homestand.
Nashville’s Justus Annunen finished with 27 saves in his first start since being acquired from the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.
Annunen, however, received nothing in the way of offensive support as the Predators lost their sixth straight game overall (0-3-3) and fell to 2-8-4 on the road.
Prior to the game, Nashville announced forward Ryan O’Reilly is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. A former Selke and Conn Smythe Trophy winner, O’Reilly remains one game removed from 1,100 in his NHL career.
With the Predators on the power play, Jonathan Marchessault’s ill-advised blind backhanded pass from below the goal line in the offensive end resulted in a rush the other way. Evans elected to keep the puck and wired a shot from the left circle that sailed past Annunen to open the scoring at 7:50 of the first period.
Evans’ goal was his fifth in 26 games this season. He had seven goals in 82 games in 2023-24.
Laine gave the Canadiens a 2-0 lead at 1:14 of the third period by wiring a shot from the left circle past Annunen. Laine was playing in his second game since sustaining a sprained knee in the preseason.
Nashville nearly halved the deficit later in the third period, however referee Tom Chmielewski immediately waved off the apparent goal after deeming that Gus Nyquist kicked the puck into the net.
–Field Level Media
