The Montreal Canadiens started the game strong against the Seattle Kraken on Sunday and led 5-1 after two periods of play.
Kaiden Guhle was one of the main architects of the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge’s excellent start to the game.
The Canadian actually opened the scoring at 4:18 of the first period when Guhle made a one-timer that didn’t have the desired velocity. Regardless, the puck deflected off defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and found its way to the back of the net as Philipp Grubauer tried to stop it with the glove.
Just 2:04 later, another shot from Guhle resulted in a goal. Better this time, it was deflected by Alex Newhook. The former Colorado Avalanche found the back of the net for the 11th time since the start of the campaign.
While his teammates took charge of the attack with two goals on as many shots, Cayden Primeau made nine saves at the other end of the ice during the first 10 minutes of play. Two of them, made from the end of the pad, could have ended up in the back of the net. He repelled 26 in 40 minutes of play.
Nick Suzuki increased the lead with a precise wrist shot to the top right corner on a two-on-one downhill. The captain scored his 28th goal of the year at 17:33 of the first period.
Juraj Slafkovsky collected an assist. He thus collected a point in a seventh consecutive game. The 19-year-old Slovak now has 39 points in his second season in the National Hockey League.
Just 27 seconds later, Newhook scored his second of the game with a shot from the slot. Guhle collected his third point of the evening.
After giving up four times on six shots, Grubauer gave way to Joey Daccord. The latter blocked eight shots.
The local favorites tried to serve the same medicine to the Canadian in the second period.
With reshuffled trios, the Kraken reduced the gap in the first minute of play. Jordan Eberle surprised Primeau with a precise shot into the upper right part of the net.
A goal by Matthew Beniers, who deflected an Oliver Bjorkstrand shot at 5:02, was then wiped off the board when video review showed an offside.
Mike Matheson, however, gave his opponents a cold shower with an explosive breakthrough in the numerical penalty in the second half of the period. Quickly, the Quebecer overtook Tomas Tatar to find himself alone in front of Daccord. He scored his 10th of the season at 13:16.
Moments later, Newhook nearly scored his first career hat trick, but his shot hit the post.