Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
First period
The passes are just as sloppy as they were last night, which isn’t a good sign early in this one.
Kirby Dach takes a hit he’s not expecting from Jeffrey Viel and takes a few seconds to get back up. Perhaps just winded.
Apparently not as he’s gone to the dressing room. The concussion spotter may have called him in.
Arber Xkehaj goes after Viel, who declines his invitation, and then also turns down Josh Anderson.
The good news is you can’t say the Canadiens were taken off their game in seeking retribution for the hit because they weren’t on it to begin with.
Montreal’s defence pair of Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson gets completely picked apart on a three-way passing by the Ducks, and it ends with Leo Carlsson having a tap-in at the back door from what was set up as decent positioning to begin with.
Post-goal puck-chasing time.
You can’t even call the attempts to exchange possession from one player to another “passing” right now. It’s just whipping a puck in the general direction of a teammate and hoping it gets corralled.
The Habs are probably lucky that they drew a power play given how they’ve played so far, but Hutson did make a nice play to get the play turned from defence to offence.
The crowd gears up for a promising rush from the forwards of the top unit … that results in no shot on goal.
Oliver Kapanen misses what would have been a goal if he’d been able to get his stick on a cross-crease pass.
Olen Zellweger dives at the puck and ends up taking out the feet of Brendan Gallagher. There will be a five-on-three for 11 seconds.
Cole Caufield had an empty net to shoot at, but ended up sending his shot off the far post.
Back at five-on-five, Noah Dobson winds up a shot and hits the post as well.
You can’t say they weren’t trying to tie the game in those four minutes.
Montreal has all the momentum as the Ducks can’t get a stick on the puck.
They should have been playing like this from the start, but at least they are now.
The pressure is brought to an end when Mike Matheson, in full possession of the puck, decides to throw the puck toward his own crease to begin the breakout. Anaheim sets up in the zone for two shifts and the sequence ends with two big saves required from Jacob Fowler.
The Canadiens should have a goal, but who knows how many they could have if they’d approached the game the way they did after going down a goal. It might not be close right now. Instead, they trail 1-0.
Second period
Dach is done for the night.
Jake Evans and Xhekaj run into each other in the defensive zone and Xhekaj loses his stick. More defensive adventures in the second period.
It’s 2-0 Anaheim as Carlsson nets his second of the game on a shot following a faceoff win. It was their third shot of the opening 27 seconds of play.
Alex Newhook puts all of the team’s frustration behind a snapshot from the right circle a minute later and gets the deficit back to one goal.
Lane Hutson sets up Alex Newhook for an absolute rocket of a goal
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) March 15, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Noah Dobson picks out Cole Caufield on the opposite side of the ice and two zones away, and Caufield glides in and ties the game with his 39th.
Noah Dobson springs Cole Caufield and we are tied in Montreal
Caufield now one goal shy of 40 on the year
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) March 15, 2026 at 9:11 PM
It looks like we’re in for another shinny game.
Fowler makes two saves in quick succession as each incursion into the offensive zone by the Ducks is resulting in scoring chances.
Montreal is going back to the power play after Ian Moore flipped the puck out over the glass.
The Ducks ended up with as many scoring chances on that power play as Montreal, with two apiece.
I’m not sure how Alexandre Carrier turned possession of the puck 10 feet inside his blue line into a three-on-one against, but he did. The Ducks just failed to convert the play.
Slafkovský, after defending the slot well, picks off the puck, battles through the check of Jackson LaCombe all the way down the ice to gain the zone, then gets the puck across to Suzuki. Yet again, Lukas Dostal is beat by a player rushing in with speed.
Slafkovsky battles through a Ducks defender, and Nick Suzuki makes it a 3-2 game
— Scott Matla (@scottmatla.bsky.social) March 15, 2026 at 9:32 PM
The game is tied as Troy Terry walks into the slot and Anderson decides to try a bodycheck instead of just poking the puck away. The puck deflects up over Fowler’s shoulder.
Alexandre Texier puts the puck in the net, but about a second after the horn sounded.
It was a high-event period with Montreal ending up with more shots (12-9) and more goals (3-2), but allowing eight high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five. Whichever team plays something that can be described as defence in the third period could just come away with the two points.
Third period
Slafkovský wants again proves to be the strongest player on the ice as he strips the puck away on the boards in his own zone and pulls the puck away from a stick-check to create another dangerous rush for Suzuki. Dostal makes the save this time.
The ref calls Phillip Danault for engaging his arm in a battle along the wall, deeming it to be holding.
Suzuki is out killing the penalty with Danault in the box, and gets the interception to make the initial clear.
Anderson gives a little tug on the shoulder of Beckett Sennecke and Sennecke falls dramatically to the ice. Both players get sent off for their unnecessary actions.
Demidov stickhandles through the slot and sets up Kapanen, but the shot is stopped. Demidov has been one of the best players tonight, along with Slafkovský.
Granlund is going off for tripping Dobson behind Montreal’s net. Time to make a power play count.
The second unit got one chance. That was it as the power goes zero-for-four on the night, and one for its last 12.
Evans get the puck in the slot. It’s his turn to hit the post.
Matheson loses the puck at the blue line and the Ducks get an excellent chance out of it. A very expressive glove stop from Fowler turns a nervous crowd into a loud one, and the game remains tied.
Another turnover at the offensive blue line, another Fowler glove save.
Hutson and Guhle both try to win the puck on the boards, Cutter Gauthier leaves them and heads toward the net, and Viel finds him for a completely open chance on Fowler that the goaltender can’t bail the team out this time.
Montreal is 2:30 away from a disastrous weekend.
They’re hemmed in their own zone with Fowler on the bench. Anaheim hits two posts on the sequence.
There’s no miracle comeback tonight, and maybe that’s a good thing. Let everyone stew on this defensive effort for a day before playing an important game versus the Boston Bruins.
EOTP
3) Never in the history of the Montreal Canadiens
2) I guess he’ll have to do it versus the Bruins
1) Slafkovský was Montreal’s best defenceman tonight
