Jake Evans produced two goals and an assist and Jacob Fowler stopped 20 shots, lifting the visiting Montreal Canadiens to a 4-1 victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
Kaiden Guhle added a goal and assist to help Montreal earn its first road victory since opening night. Mike Matheson also scored as the Canadiens improved to 4-1-1 in their past six games.
Connor Bedard scored and Spencer Knight made 24 saves as the Blackhawks fell to 2-3-0 on a seven-game homestand.
Chicago started strong, as Bedard opened the scoring at 4:23 of the first period on a snap shot from just outside the left circle. After a Montreal dump-in glanced off a linesman, Patrick Kane collected the puck and slid it to a streaking Bedard in the neutral zone.
Montreal, playing without captain and top center Nick Suzuki (upper body), struggled to find offensive footing in the early going. The Canadiens needed 3:31 to record their first shot on goal and didn’t register another for another 2 1/2 minutes.
Evans tallied the equalizer at 17:29 of the first period, beating Knight with a wrist shot from in front of the net off a feed from Kirby Dach.
Montreal took the lead on Evans’ short-handed goal at 7:45 of the second period. With the Canadiens pressuring the Blackhawks’ five-forward power play, a Kane shot attempt redirected off Tyler Bertuzzi’s skate and created an odd-man rush for Montreal.
Evans carried the puck down the left side and scored from the circle.
Fowler turned aside Roman Kantserov and Kane on a Chicago rush moments later to preserve a one-goal advantage.
The Canadiens made it 3-1 at 18:26 of the second. Guhle netted his first goal of the season on a wrist shot from the point.
Chicago finished 0-for-5 on the power play compared to 0-for-3 for Montreal. The Blackhawks’ final man advantage of the game lasted just 22 seconds in the third period, as Teuvo Teravainen was whistled for interference moments after Montreal’s Juraj Slafkovsky was penalized for hooking.
Matheson’s empty-net goal at 17:22 accounted for the final margin.
–Field Level Media
