Canadiens end 4-game skid with explosive 6-3 win over Predators

Montreal needed this one. After four straight losses, the Canadiens came out Saturday night and simply overwhelmed Nashville, building a lead so commanding that even Matt Duchene's furious third-period comeback couldn't erase it. The final score was 6-3, but the game's real story lived in that second period, when Montreal scored four unanswered goals in a span of less than eleven minutes and essentially decided the outcome before the Predators could mount any real resistance.

Artturi Lehkonen got things started early, just 2:41 into the game. He recovered the puck right in front of Juuse Saros and tapped it home for his first goal of the season. Nashville thought they'd answered back in the first period when Luke Kunin directed the puck toward the net, but referee Corey Syvret waved it off—Kunin had used his arm, and the goal didn't count. That non-goal would loom larger as the night wore on.

When the second period began, Montreal was already in control, and they didn't let up. Josh Anderson threaded a no-look backhand pass to Christian Dvorak, who buried his third of the season to make it 2-0. Less than two minutes later, Brendan Gallagher converted a power-play opportunity off a feed from Jonathan Drouin, and suddenly Montreal had a three-goal cushion. Then came the avalanche. Ryan Poehling scored twice in thirty-seven seconds—at 9:31 and 10:08—to push the lead to 5-0. That second Poehling goal was the final straw for Nashville. Head coach John Hynes pulled Saros, who had surrendered five goals on just nineteen shots, and brought in David Rittich in relief.

For most teams, a five-goal deficit in the third period is academic. But Duchene had other ideas. He scored a power-play goal at 6:36, then another at 12:53, both with the man advantage. At 16:27, he completed his hat trick at even strength, suddenly making it a one-goal game with Nashville pulling their goaltender in a desperate bid to force overtime. The momentum had swung entirely. But Montreal held. Tyler Toffoli, who had already scored once earlier in the game, sealed it with an empty-netter to preserve the 6-3 victory.

Samuel Montembeault, Montreal's goaltender, stopped thirty-three of the thirty-six shots Nashville sent his way. For the Predators, Rittich was perfect in relief, blocking all nine shots he faced, but it was too little and too late. The damage had been done in that second period, when Montreal's offense simply overpowered Nashville's defense and goaltending. Toffoli, Drouin, and Chris Wideman each picked up two assists in the win. Montreal improved to 5-13-2 with the victory, finally breaking free from a stretch that had threatened to derail their season before it truly began. Nashville fell to 9-7-1, their early-season momentum stalled by a team that, on this night at least, was simply the better side.