Juraj Slafkovsky had a goal and two assists, leading the visiting Montreal Canadiens to a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night in Vancouver.
Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Mike Matheson also scored for Montreal (31-27-6), while Filip Hronek and centre Elias Pettersson replied for Vancouver (29-24-11). Samuel Montembault earned the win in goal for Montreal, making 29 saves. Kevin Lankinen made 23 stops for the Canucks.
Power play precision from Elias Pettersson鉂楋笍 pic.twitter.com/Y46ZoKRXRA
鈥� Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 12, 2025
Montreal鈥檚 top line of Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky combined for seven points. Suzuki opened the scoring just 1:06 into the contest, taking a feed from Caufield and slipping a backhand past Lankinen for his 20th goal of the year.
Slafkovsky made it 2-0 just over seven minutes later, when he took a loose puck and snapped a shot over Lankinen鈥檚 glove.
At the 8:59 mark of the second, Suzuki returned the favour for Caufield, setting up the winger for his 32nd of the year.
Hronek pulled the Canucks within two early in the third, when his point shot found its way through a mass of legs and rattled off the post and in behind Montembault. Hronek has four goals so far this season.
With Montreal defenceman David Savard in the penalty box, Pettersson ripped a shot from the deep slot past a screened Montembault to make it 3-2. It was Pettersson鈥檚 13th goal of the year.
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With 17 seconds left, Matheson sealed the win with his sixth of the season on a shot from his own zone into an empty Vancouver net, with Lankinen pulled for an extra attacker.
With the loss, the Canucks remain one point behind the Calgary Flames for the last wildcard position in the NHL鈥檚 Western Conference. Montreal is two points back of Columbus for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Canucks are back in action Wednesday (6 p.m.) when they visit the Flames in Calgary. Montreal continues their Western road swing Wednesday in Seattle.
NOTES: Vancouver continues to play without injured captain Quinn Hughes鈥� Vancouver was 1-for-3 on the power play, while Montreal went 0-for-1.
