(Montreal) Alex DeBrincat scored 47 seconds after Joel Armia had reduced the gap and the Detroit Red Wings led 4-2 after two periods of play against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.
Armia cut the lead to 3-2 at 4:07 of the second period, beating Ville Husso on the glove side in a short-handed two-on-one attack.
DeBrincat responded during the same penalty to Jake Allen for tripping a rival. He surprised Allen by skillfully deflecting a Moritz Seider delivery into the mouth of the net.
The Canadian had 61 seconds of five-on-three play late in the second period, but he was unable to take advantage. Mike Matheson was the only one to attempt a shot and it was blocked by Seider.
The Red Wings scored the first three goals of the game in the first period, courtesy of Joe Veleno, Christian Fischer and Daniel Sprong.
Veleno opened the scoring 7:21 into the game. A shot from Lucas Raymond hit defender Justin Barron in front of the net and the puck landed on the blade of Veleno’s stick, who was able to shoot into a gaping cage.
The native of Montreal’s West Island scored on his team’s fifth shot on goal. For his part, the Canadian still had no shots on the clock.
Fischer widened the gap to 11:44, outnumbered. Barron lost control of the puck at the Red Wings blue line and Michael Rasmussen was able to escape. Allen made the save, but lost sight of the puck, which came to rest to his left. Fischer jumped at the opportunity by pushing the disc into the opening.
Sprong pushed the Red Wings’ lead to 3-0 with 39.4 seconds left, beating Allen on the shield side on a two-on-one attack.
Barron restarted the Canadian with 6.1 seconds left on the clock. A shot from Nick Suzuki hit defenseman Jeff Petry and the puck flew to Barron, who hit the mark.
Allen made 16 saves in the first two periods. At the other end of the ice, Husso stopped 13 shots.
Forward Mitchell Stephens played his first match with the Canadian and scored a 73e career in the NHL. He replaced Alex Newhook, who will be sidelined for 10 to 12 weeks with a sprained left ankle suffered Thursday in the Habs’ 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers.
The Canadian will play their next game on Monday, when they host the Seattle Kraken at the Bell Centre.