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 Jakob Silfverberg scored the only shootout goal to give the Ducks a
3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night in front of
15,273 at the Honda Center.
The Ducks (35-19-8) used their ninth consecutive victory to move
into a first-place tie in the Pacific Division with the Los Angeles
Kings. Corey Perry and Jamie McGinn scored in regulation for
Anaheim, while John Gibson made 25 saves.
"They pushed us right to the limit," Perry said of the Canadiens.
"They played with a lot of emotion. They played hard and they played
quick. But we found a way."
Montreal's Alex Galchenyuk scored twice while Mike Condon made 33
saves, three fewer than his season high. However, the Canadiens
sustained their sixth loss in nine games as part of a midseason
collapse.
Montreal (30-28-6) began the season with a club-record nine
successive wins and had the NHL's best record at 19-4-3 on Dec. 1.
Since then, the Canadiens have compiled the league's worst record:
11-24-3.
Anaheim is moving in the opposite direction. After starting the
season with nine losses in their first 10 games, the Ducks went into
the Christmas break last in points, overall goals and power-play
goals. But since Dec. 27, Anaheim owns a league-best 23-4-2 record
while scoring 90 goals and succeeding in 28.9 percent of their power
plays.
"We dug ourselves a hole early," Perry said. "It's nice to see where
we've come, but at the end of the day, we still have 20 games or
whatever it is left. We have to keep pushing."
Silfverberg, Anaheim's second shooter, converted a wrist shot under
the crossbar for his fourth shootout goal in six attempts.
Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty had chances to tie or put Montreal
ahead in the shootout. However, Galchenyuk's attempt rolled off his
stick, and then Gibson blocked Pacioretty's backhand to secure the
win.
"It was such a close game that could've gone either way," Galchenyuk
said. "It's unfortunate we ended up on the losing end. But we showed
up, competed and made plays. It was fun."
Galchenyuk gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead 56 seconds into the final
period with a wrist shot from the edge of the right circle.
Galchenyuk's 19th goal elicited chants of "Go, Habs, Go" from the
Canadian expatriates in attendance.
"If we had beared down," Pacioretty said, "we could've had two
points."
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However, Perry used his fourth goal in two games and his 27th of the
season to tie the score on a power play with 10:51 left in
regulation.
Condon stopped Cam Fowler's slap shot from the left circle, but
David Perron secured the rebound near the left post and passed
through the crease to Perry, who converted inside the right post.
Galchenyuk gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead 4:25 into the second
period. Andrei Markov passed from the left boards at the blue line
to Galchenyuk, who dragged a rising wrist shot from the right circle
into the upper-right corner of the net.
Eleven minutes later, McGinn, acquired Monday from the Buffalo
Sabres, tied the score in his first game with Anaheim. After
deflecting Hampus Lindholm's wrist shot from the left point off
Condon's right arm, McGinn flicked the rebound past Condon at 14:28
for his 15th goal.
NOTES: The Canadiens scratched D Victor Bartley, LW Mike Brown and
LW Lucas Lessio. ... Montreal D Morgan Ellis made his NHL debut. ...
Canadiens competing in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey will be G Carey
Price (Canada), LW Max Pacioretty (United States), D Andrei Markov
(Russia) and C Tomas Plekanec (Czech Republic). ... The Ducks
scratched D Simon Despres and D Korbinian Holzer. ... Anaheim C
Shawn Horcoff practiced Tuesday for the first time since being
suspended 20 games Jan. 26 for using a performance-enhancing drug.
Horcoff is eligible to return March 11. ... Ducks competing in the
World Cup of Hockey will be C Ryan Getzlaf (Canada), C Ryan Kesler
(United States), D Sami Vatanen (Finland), G Frederik Anderson
(Europe) and G John Gibson (North America). ... Anaheim C Brandon
Pirri, acquired from the Florida Panthers at the trade deadline,
will be examined by team doctors before being allowed to skate.
Pirri has not played since injuring his right ankle Feb. 13 against
the Nashville Predators.
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