Coyotes Fall to Canadiens at Bell Centre on Tuesday

STATS

MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- Alex Kerfoot and Nick Bjugstad scored, and Connor Ingram made 17 saves, but the Arizona Coyotes fell to the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

Joel Armia, Jordan Harris, Tanner Pearson, and Nick Suzuki scored for the Canadiens, who snapped a five-game losing streak. Sam Montembeault made 36 saves to earn his 13th win of the season.

The Coyotes finished the season series against the Canadiens 1-1-0.

"We had a lot of possession in their zone, quality shots, and their goalie stood tall," head coach André Tourigny said. "We always can find a few things. We could have had a little bit more traffic in front of him. We did not reload properly on two of their goals. There's never a perfect game."

Arizona outshot Montreal 38-21 and did not take a penalty in the game.

"We played really well," Tourigny said. "The guys had a lot of emotion and drive. They played with a lot of passion. There was a lot of life on the bench."

Armia opened the scoring at 7:52 of the first period, beating Ingram glove side to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead. Harris made it 2-0 at 4:52 of the second period, firing a wrister far side on a 2-on-1 break.

Kerfoot cut into the lead under three minutes later, taking a pass from J.J. Moser behind the net before tucking the puck into an open goal. The 29-year-old scored on the same day he celebrated his 500th NHL game, split between the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Coyotes.

Pearson beat Ingram blocker side on a breakaway to make it 3-1 5:14 into the third before Bjugstad answered with a backhander from the slot at 14:23 to bring the Coyotes back to within a goal. They were unable to score the equalizer before Suzuki potted an empty-netter with 2.2 seconds remaining.

"We had those odd-man rushes that were just killing us," Moser said. "They scored on, it just feels like, all of the chances that they had. It stinks."

The Coyotes are back in action on Thursday, facing the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third game of a five-game road trip. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 pm MST, and the game will be broadcast on Arizona 61 (TV) and ESPN 620 (Radio).