Nick Suzuki leads Canadiens past the Ducks - Los Angeles Times
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Nick Suzuki leads Canadiens past the Ducks

Nick Suzuki
(Nick Wass / Associated Press)
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Nick Suzuki had two goals and an assist and the Montreal Canadiens cruised to a 5-0 victory over the Ducks on Tuesday night.

The red-hot Suzuki extended his points streak to a career-high eight games — producing 13 points in that span — and is up to 51 points in 53 games.

Cayden Primeau faced little action, making 13 saves in his first start since Jan. 20 as Montreal earned its first shutout.

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Juraj Slafkovsky, who connected with Suzuki all night, had a goal and two assists for the first three-point game of his career. Jake Evans and Brandon Gignac — with his first NHL goal — also scored for the Canadiens.

Lukas Dostal stopped 33 shots for Anaheim, which was shut out for the sixth time.

Evans scored first 1:43 into the second period with his third goal of the season and first in 25 games, beating Dostal with a backhand after a give-and-go play with Tanner Pearson.

Suzuki doubled the lead at 9:37 to extend his streak. Slafkovsky patiently skated around Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov on the break before laying a pinpoint pass to Suzuki, who tipped it in.

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The two forwards connected again later in the period, this time on the power play, as Suzuki hammered home a cross-ice pass from Suzuki into an open cage to make it 3-0 with three minutes left in the period.

In full control, the Canadiens led the shots by a whopping 29-9 after 40 minutes.

Montreal added another power-play marker at 7:26 of the third. This time, Suzuki fed Slafkovsky for his 11th of the campaign.

Gignac, 26, scored his first goal on a 2-on-0 to make it 5-0 with under three minutes left as Montreal won the game handily — but not before tempers flared as players on both teams dropped the gloves in the final minutes.

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Up next: Ducks are at Ottawa on Thursday.

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