MONTREAL, Qc. - Hampus Lindholm and Matt Beleskey lit the lamp as the Anaheim Ducks down the Montreal Canadiens 2-1 on Thursday night, putting the axe to the Habs' three-game winning habit.
Lindholm's goal at 8:16 in the first would give the Ducks a 1-0 advantage for the next 37 minutes as Anaheim raced out to an 8-1 shooting lead.
Ryan Getzlaf added his club-best 35th point with the assist, dishing to Lindholm after taking a faceoff in the Habs zone for the one-timer over Carey Price's right shoulder.
Three minutes after letting the Canadiens (20-11-2) produce the tie in the third session, left-winger Beleskey fired his 15th on the season seconds after a Ducks power-play expired.
Lindholm nearly struck on the advantage five seconds earlier with a wrister inches in front of Price in the crease, but his chance bounced away near the boards.
Rickard Rickell was on the ready, chasing down the puck and putting it on Belekskey's stick. The ricochet had Price looking late behind him at what became the game-winner.
Montreal would have chances in the middle frame to level the score, eventually rallying for a 12-11 shots lead, though Frederik Anderson would blockade the Ducks net, and hand the Canadiens their first defeat in four outings.
Michael Bournival and Tomas Plekanec teamed up on a would-be blast near the crease and Andersen's left pad was a step faster than Max Pacioretty. Brandon Prust fired a wrister that flew wide and Brendan Gallagher suffered the other pad with two minutes left after causing a turnover at the Ducks goal line.
"We had good scoring chances," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "I liked our work ethic against a first place team. But we just didn't score on the chances we had."
Andersen would stuff 23-of-24 shots in net for Anaheim (22-7-5) after allowing 4 goals on 20 shots in what became a 6-2 loss to Toronto on Tuesday that killed a seven game winning streak.
His only mistake Thursday came at 5:27 in the third when he let David Desharnais fire a wrist shot past him to give both sides a goal apiece.
Andrei Markov and Alex Galenchyuk teamed up on the assist, the latter's fourth in his last two appearances for Montreal. His three set up Max Pacioretty's hat-trick against Carolina on Tuesday.
But the visitors would take their 49th point after sixty minutes for the best mark in hockey and a victory in their fourth of five contests in Canada.
The Canadiens honored former captain Saku Koivu before the contest. Koivu skated 13 seasons in Montreal starting in 1998 and five more with Anaheim. A video tribute played before he dropped the puck at center ice.
"I will always be a Hab at my heart," the Finn said. "Every NHL player should have the opportunity to play in Montreal in front of the best fans in the world."
Koivu retired in September of this year with 255 goals and 577 assists for 832 points. He fought a successful battle with non-hodgkin's lymphoma in the Canadiens' 2001-02 season.
"He taught us what the word 'courage' really meant," Michel Therrien said of Koivu. "He made us better people."
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