National Hockey League
Montreal 2, Arizona 1
When: 9:00 PM ET, Thursday, December 20, 2018
Where: Gila River Arena, Glendale, Arizona
Referees: Wes McCauley, Justin St. Pierre
Linesmen: Kory Nagy, Tim Nowak
Attendance: 11149

Carey Price had 36 saves to pick up his 300th career win and lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 victory over the Arizona Coyotes at Glendale, Ariz.

Paul Byron and Shea Weber both scored goals for Montreal, which snapped a two-game losing streak. The Canadiens were playing their third game in four nights and the second half of a back-to-back that started with a 2-1 loss at Colorado on Wednesday night.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored the only goal for Arizona, which dropped its third straight game and lost for the seventh time in eight games. Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 shots but remained winless (0-5-1) in his last six starts.

Weber gave Montreal a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal 22 seconds into the second period. It was the 95th career power-play goal for the Canadiens' captain, the most by any active defenseman in the NHL, who blasted a one-timer from the top of the left circle past Kuemper's glove side.

Ekman-Larsson tied it six minutes later with a power-play goal, firing a shot from the right point past a screen by Christian Fischer and past Price's blocker side.

Byron put the Canadiens back in front at the 1:16 mark of the third period, tapping in a nice backhand pass through the slot by Phillip Danault past the glove of a diving Kuemper for his eighth goal of the season.

Arizona failed to capitalize on a pair of power-play chances after Danault was penalized for hooking Clayton Keller and Weber went to the box for tripping Derek Stepan.

Arizona pulled Kuemper with 1:35 to go, and ex-Coyote Max Domi, traded to Montreal in June, just missed sealing the win with a backhand try that went wide of the empty net 12 seconds later. Price then came up with a big glove save on a shot from the top of the slot by Nick Schmaltz with 10 seconds left, and the Coyotes couldn't manage another shot on goal after that.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Montreal   Arizona
Paul Byron 1 Points Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1
Paul Byron 1 Goals Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1
Phillip Danault 1 Assists Jakob Chychrun 1
Shea Weber 1 Power Play Goals Oliver Ekman-Larsson 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Carey Price .973 Save Percentage Darcy Kuemper .929
Carey Price 36 Saves Darcy Kuemper 26
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Montreal 28 2 1-3 3-4 8 31
Arizona 37 1 1-4 2-3 6 31
Upcoming Games
  • Arizona will play their next game at home against Colorado. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .467 after a win and .368 after a loss.
  • Montreal will play their next game on the road against Vegas. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .353 after a win and .632 after a loss.