Allen makes 22 saves, Canadiens blank Blackhawks for 3rd straight win

MONTREAL -- Jake Allen made 22 saves, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 4-0 at Bell Centre on Tuesday.

The Canadiens shut out an opponent for the first time since a 4-0 victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 23, 2022. It was Allen's 24th NHL shutout, and first since Nov. 2, 2021, when he made 22 saves against the Detroit Red Wings.
"[Shutouts are] hard to get in this league, and obviously the last two years have been a little harder on us," Montreal defenseman David Savard said. "And to get one for Jake, he's been playing really well for us, and he deserves it."

Jonathan Drouin had three assists, and Joel Armia and Christian Dvorak each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (23-27-4), who have won three in a row for the first time since Nov. 8-12 and begin a four-game road trip Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"It wasn't a pretty one for us, but we found a way to win," Dvorak said. "We had a really good third period, which was nice, but we really wanted to finish off this homestand the right way and go on the road on a little win streak here."
Jaxson Stauber made 27 saves for his first loss in four starts for the Blackhawks (16-31-5), who have been outscored 8-1 in two straight losses to begin a four-game road trip.
"We were really sloppy in the first period, and we just didn't play a good solid game," Chicago coach Luke Richardson said. "And I think they found their game before us and then it became tough. I thought we were chasing them."

Justin Barron gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 8:38 of the first period, scoring with a wrist shot from the point through traffic on a power play.
Allen kept it a one-goal game at 10:41, stopping Andreas Athanasiou on a breakaway with his right toe after Savard could not handle a pass by Evgenii Dadonov at the Blackhawks' blue line. The puck did cross the goal line after the rebound caromed off Athanasiou's skate but the Chicago forward had knocked the net off.
"He's so fast," Allen said. "For him to get an opportunity to skate from the far blue [line] to the net, guys can pick up a lot of speed and he's probably one of the fastest guys in the League. So, really for me it was just trying to match his speed and get a pad on it, and luckily he knocked the net off."

Armia made it 2-0 at 5:45 of the third period, driving to the net and tipping in a pass by Drouin.
"When they scored that goal, we kind of let it slip away," Blackhawks forward Taylor Raddysh said.
Savard pushed it to 3-0 at 10:53, scoring glove side from the left face-off circle for his first goal in 21 games (Nov. 23).
Dvorak scored 52 seconds later from the right circle after receiving a pass by Drouin from below the goal line at 11:45 for the 4-0 final.
"It just felt like we were weak tonight overall and didn't battle and gave them easier looks than they had to earn," Chicago defenseman Connor Murphy said.
NOTES:Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi sustained a lower-body injury in the first period. Richardson said he will be evaluated and will not play against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. … Drouin has five assists in his past two games. He has 17 points (all assists) in 31 games this season, the fifth-most assists before a forward scored his first goal of the season in NHL history behind Alex Delvecchio of the Detroit Red Wings (22 assists in 1969-70), Martin Erat of the Nashville Predators (21 in 2013-14), Andrew Cassels of the Hartford Whalers (20 in 1994-95), Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders (19 in 2022-23) and Marcel Dionne of the Red Wings (18 in 1973-74). … Chicago defenseman Seth Jones played his 700th NHL game.