MONTREAL — The Vancouver Canucks ended a 4-game winless streak with a 2-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Monday.
Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland scored, and Thatcher Demko made 33 saves for Vancouver (7-14-2), which had lost 9 of 10 (1-8-1).
Ryan Poehling scored, and Jake Allen made 40 saves for Montreal (6-16-2), which fired Bergevin on Sunday.
It was the Canucks first regulation win in 19 games against the Canadiens since Oct. 27, 2015, and their first regulation win in 16 games in Montreal since Jan. 16, 2007.
Garland put the Canucks ahead 2-1 at 6:27 of the second when he was left unmarked in the goalmouth. The forward chipped the puck past Allen when Bo Horvat whipped a pass in front from the left corner after he cut off Canadiens forward Josh Anderson‘s no-look pass attempt off the boards.
Demko stacked his pads to make a save on Ben Chiarot‘s shot with 3:08 remaining in the third.
Pettersson gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:00 of the first period. His one-timer from the right side on a return pass from Quinn Hughes beat Allen stick side.
Poehling tied it 1-1 at 18:39 when he drove to the net and scored with a backhand thrust at Jonathan Drouin‘s centering pass from the left side.
NOTES: Hughes got his 100th career NHL assist on Pettersson’s goal to reach the milestone in 151 games, tying Brian Leetch for the sixth-fastest by a defenseman in NHL history. Sergei Zubov accomplished it in 127 games, followed by Mark Howe and Stefan Persson (135 each), Al MacInnis (144) and Larry Murphy (150). It was also the second-fewest games to get 100 assists in Canucks history (Barry Pederson, 147). … Quinn and Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres are the first two defensemen from the 2018 NHL Draft class to get 100 assists. Dahlin had his 100th in his 219th NHL game on Monday, a 7-4 loss to the Seattle Kraken. … Montreal had it 18-game point streak against Vancouver end (14-0-4). … Drouin has scored five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games. … The Canucks were playing the second of a back to back. They lost at the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Sunday.
Source: Nhl.com