Vancouver Canucks at Montreal Canadiens

Canucks rebound from loss to beat Canadiens 5-2, improve to 11-3-1

Ilya Mikheyev and Phillip Di Giuseppe also scored and Casey DeSmith made 30 saves to help Vancouver — a 5-2 loser in Toronto on Saturday night — improve to 11-3-1.

“I liked the response,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “I thought it was a really good game, a 200-foot game by everybody.”

Vancouver acquired DeSmith from Vancouver in September.

“Good teams come out after a loss and play well, and I thought we did that tonight,” DeSmith said. “I thought we defended hard, and I think we’ve been doing that all year.

Filip Hronek had an assist to become the fourth Vancouver defenseman with a double-digit points streak. NHL points leader Elias Pettersson was held off the scoresheet to end his eight-game streak.

Mike Matheson and Arber Xhekaj scored for Montreal, a night after the Canadiens beat Boston 3-2 in overtime at home. Jake Allen made 31 saves.

After a slow first period, the Canucks poured it on in the second.

Garland opened the scoring at 6:15 of the second, tipping in a centering pass from J.T. Miller with his backhand.

Montreal’s Christian Dvorak appeared to answer under two minutes later with a wrist shot from the high slot that beat DeSmith. However, the play was ruled offside after a coach’s challenge.

Mikheyev added to the lead at 9:17 after walking into the Montreal zone and firing a shot past Allen, who lost his stick moments earlier.

Joshua made it 3-0 with two minutes left in the period. He scored off a rebound after multiple shots from Garland.

“It’s tough when you give up three in a period,” Allen said. “One goal is easier to come back from than three, it was definitely not as sharp as the last couple of nights.”

UP NEXT

Canucks: Host New York Islanders on Wednesday night.

Canadiens: Host Calgary on Tuesday night.

VAN leads series 1-0