Montreal Canadiens' Jake Evans scores against Anaheim Ducks goaltender Anthony Stolarz during the second period in Montreal. The Ducks won 5-4 on Jan. 27, 2022.Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press
When the Montreal Canadiens scored their first goal of the game, Trevor Zegras had an effective counter.
Zegras scored twice, including the fourth lacrosse-style goal in NHL history, as the Anaheim Ducks held on for a 5-4 road win Thursday night.
Jake Evans scored the first of his two goals on the night at 1:15 of the second to pull Montreal to within 3-1. But just 10 seconds later, Zegras carried the puck behind the Canadiens net before scooping it up with his stick blade and putting it over goalie Sam Montembeault’s right shoulder for the lacrosse-style goal.
But there were no fans at the Bell Centre due to COVID-19 restrictions but that didn’t stop Zegras from having a bit of fun.
“Honestly, I just tried to take the crowd out of it,” said Zegras. “It was a big goal for them, the atmosphere was pretty crazy tonight, it was one of those things where I tried to take the crowd out of it.”
The Ducks bench came to its feet as Zegras attempted the move. That included Adam Henrique, who was back from missing 20 games with a lower-body injury.
“Zegras’ skill level is so high and he brings that extra aspect to his overall game,” said Henrique “He can pull off plays like that and make them work.
“If I tried something like that I would just pitchfork it to the corner and if I started over I’d probably get yelled at on the bench.”
Ducks assistant coach Mike Stothers again filled in for head coach Dallas Eakins who tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 2. He had nothing but praise for Zegras.
“The good thing about Zegras is that he has a unique skillset that you can’t teach,” he said. “I do enjoy that he is not afraid to take chances
“That’s a good thing and we certainly don’t want to stifle his creativity but there’s still some growth to be made.”
The Ducks (22-16-8) scored three first-period goals then held on to beat the Canadiens. Sam Carrick, Troy Terry and Cam Fowler had the other goals for Anaheim. Anthony Stolarz stopped 35 shots.
The Ducks took advantage of Dauphin’s double-minor for high-sticking Ryan Getzlaf by scoring twice. Getzlaf did not return. Following the game, Stothers did not have an update on the injury.
“It turned out very well for us, we were able to capitalize,” Stothers said. “In the meantime we lost our captain for the rest of the game but we were able to take advantage of that.”
Artturi Lehkonen and Laurent Dauphin, on a penalty shot, had the other goals for Montreal (8-27-7).
“We always thought that we could come back in this game and it came close at the end,” said Montreal head coach Dominique Ducharme.
Samuel Montembeault came on and turned aside 13 of the 15 shots he faced.
Carrick opened the scoring on a breakaway, beating Primeau at 8:14 of the first for his ninth of the season.
Fowler and Terry put Anaheim up 3-0 with power-play goals at 15:12 and 17:06, respectively.
Evans cut Montreal’s deficit to 3-1 at 1:15 of the second before Zegras countered impressively.
He scored a lacrosse goal from behind the Montreal net, beating Montembeault to make it 4-1 at 1:25.
Montreal scored on the power play when Mike Hoffman left the puck for Lehkonen in the slot and he recorded his sixth of the season at 9:54.
Zegras scored his second of the game from the high slot at 14:04 to give Anaheim a 5-2 lead.
Evans added his second of the night at 1:24 of the third to cut Anaheim’s lead to 5-3. Dauphin was awarded a penalty shot when Hampus Lindholm hooked him on a breakaway.
He converted at 14:02 to make it a 5-4 contest.