Kirby Dach scored twice while Lane Hutson, who leads all rookies in points, recorded his first three-assist game to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 5-3 victory over the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday in Salt Lake City.
Montreal’s Cole Caufield and Mike Matheson each had a goal and an assist, while Patrik Laine scored a goal to reach the 400-point mark. Sam Montembeault made 22 saves for the Canadiens, who have won 10 of their last 13 games (10-2-1).
Josh Doan, Nick Bjugstad and Logan Cooley scored for Utah, which has won just once in its last five games (1-3-1) and is on a 2-7-2 streak. Karel Vejmelka stopped 21 shots.
With the score tied at 3, Caufield scored at 6:33 of the third period by deflecting Hutson’s shot. It was Caufield’s sixth goal in seven games.
Dach’s second of the game provided the insurance score with 3:45 remaining for a Montreal club that dominated the final two periods.
Amid a tale of two games in the first two periods, Utah took the lead twice, only to see the Canadiens draw level.
Doan’s power-play goal, off a rebound off the goal, opened the scoring at 2:11, but Matheson answered 67 seconds later on a partial breakaway. It was Montreal’s only shot in the first 18 minutes.
Bjugstad gave Utah another lead with 54 seconds left in the first period by finishing off an angled shot that hit Montembeault’s back and into the goal to snap a 22-game goal drought.
However, Laine tied the score midway through the second period with a shot from the left faceoff dot for his 10th goal in 15 games this season.
After outscoring Montreal 14-3 in the first period, Utah needed more than 14 minutes to register a shot in the second period.
Dach put Montreal ahead for the first time with 86 seconds left in the second quarter when he threw down a backhander. But Cooley tied the game 3-3 at 3:07 of the third quarter when he converted a loose puck from the right circle.