Canadiens lose to Canucks in first game since GM Bergevin fired

MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens lost their first game since general manager Marc Bergevin was fired, 2-1 to the Vancouver Canucks at Bell Centre on Monday.

"We had some really good seasons, we had some tough seasons around here," Montreal forward Brendan Gallagher said. "We always followed up those tough seasons with solutions because he was able to sit there and gather our opinions. And he really trusted us, really listened to us. He was just someone you could really count on."
Elias Pettersson and Conor Garland scored, and Thatcher Demko made 33 saves for Vancouver (7-14-2), which had lost four in a row and nine of 10 (1-8-1).
"We've been playing a better game, I thought, just not getting the results," Demko said. "So it's nice to see one go tonight."
Demko was one of the few people in the building who was not aware Bergevin had been fired on Sunday.
"I actually just found out about that after the game," Demko said. "You hear some crazy things coming out of the media lately about us, so I've been kind of tuning it out, so I missed that one. I didn't really know about it."

Jake Allen made 40 saves for Montreal (6-16-2), which fired Bergevin in the midst of one of the worst starts in its history after losing in the Stanley Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning last season.
"I was surprised but obviously when we had a start like we did this year, you know, things [have] got to change," Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. "It could be him, it could be players, and obviously they thought that they needed a little change-up in the organization."
It was the Canucks first regulation win in 19 games against the Canadiens dating to Oct. 27, 2015, and their first regulation win in 16 games in Montreal dating to Jan. 16, 2007.
"I like playing here, especially the fans," Pettersson said. "It's always a loud rink playing here. You've got a great fan base so it's always fun to play here. And I didn't know that fact, so it's good to break that."
Garland put the Canucks ahead 2-1 at 6:27 of the second period when he chipped the puck past Allen off a pass from Bo Horvat, who cut off Anderson's no-look pass attempt off the boards.

Demko preserved the lead by stacking his pads to make a save on Ben Chiarot's shot with 3:06 remaining in the third.
"He always gives us a chance to win, and today he was Thatcher again," Pettersson said.
Pettersson gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:00 of the first period. He scored stick side with a one-timer from the right circle after receiving a return pass from Quinn Hughes.
Ryan Poehling tied it 1-1 at 18:39 when he drove to the net and scored with a deflection off Jonathan Drouin's centering pass from the left circle.
NOTES:Hughes got his 100th NHL assist on Pettersson's goal. He reached the milestone in 151 games, tying Brian Leetch for the sixth-fastest by a defenseman in NHL history. Sergei Zubov accomplished it in 127 games, followed by Mark Howe and Stefan Persson (135), Al MacInnis (144) and Larry Murphy (150). It was also the second-fewest games to get 100 assists in Canucks history (Barry Pederson, 147). … Montreal had it 18-game point streak against Vancouver end (14-0-4). … Drouin has scored five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games. … The Canucks were playing the second of a back to back. They lost at the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Sunday.