Ducks defeat Canadiens for their second regulation win of the season
MONTREAL — John Klingberg scored twice and the Ducks won in regulation for only the second time this season, beating the Montreal Canadiens 5-2 on Thursday night.
Troy Terry also scored for Anaheim, Adam Henrique and Frank Vatrano added empty-netters and Lukas Dostal made 23 saves. The Ducks improved to 8-20-3, ending a three-game skid.
Dostal was called up from San Diego of the American Hockey League only five days ago.
“I had pure joy before the game,” Dostal said. “I was nervous and the guys were saying how awesome it is to play here, so I was just wondering about the atmosphere, right? And, I can tell. It was awesome.”
Dostal won for the second time in the NHL.
“He was like a kid in a candy store,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “This is a very special building, obviously. And when I went after the game, just to talk to him for a couple minutes alone, that’s all he talked about was the building, the atmosphere, how much fun it was and it kind of reminds you that this is a game and it’s supposed to be fun.”
The NHL-worst Ducks’ scoring woes continued as they were shut out for the second consecutive night in a 6-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
Cole Caufield had two third-period goals for Montreal. Jake Allen stopped 27 shots.
“I just think we could’ve found our game a little bit,” Caufield said. “We were playing with a lot more fight down two, nothing to lose really, and we battled back so you can look at that as a positive, but we just came up short.”
The Ducks entered without a goal in their last two games and a total of eight periods. They changed that with two quick goals late in the first period.
Terry broke through on a power play with 2:32 to go with his 12th of the season, and Klingberg connected 28 seconds later.
After Montreal rallied to tie it, Klingberg restored the Ducks’ lead at 10:55 of the third with a slap shot from the point.
Up next for the Ducks: At the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
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