Keller scores four points in Coyotes win against Canadiens

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Clayton Keller had one goal and three assists for his first four-point NHL game to help the Arizona Coyotes win their third straight, 5-2 against the Montreal Canadiens at Gila River Arena on Thursday.
After scoring 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 13 games in October, the Coyotes rookie had 21 points (five goals, 16 assists) in the next 40 games. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past five games.

"Every year I've played hockey you go through that and you've just got to stick with it," Keller said. "It takes a game or two and you're right back."
\[WATCH: All Canadiens vs. Coyotes highlights\]
Brendan Perlini scored two goals in 19 seconds, Tobias Rieder and Josh Archibald also scored, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson had three assists for Arizona (16-32-10), which is 4-0-1 in its past five games and 7-5-5 in its past 17. Antti Raanta made 34 saves.
Brendan Gallagher and
Daniel Carr
scored for Montreal (22-28-7), which lost its fourth straight (0-3-1). The Canadiens, who have scored seven goals during the losing streak, are 4-8-3 in their past 15 games.
The Canadiens are 12 points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"We've been through a lot this year and obviously we haven't got the results we wanted," Gallagher said. "These guys aren't going to give up. We're going to continue to work for each other."
Montreal goalie Carey Price lost to the Coyotes for the first time in 10 games. He made 16 saves.
Keller gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead at 13:56 of the first period on a power play. Ekman-Larsson slipped a pass to Keller at the left point and Keller skated in and shot past Price from the top of the left face-off circle. It was his team-leading 17th goal of the season and third in his past five games.
Perlini scored 57 seconds into the second period when Keller found him alone in the slot with a pass from below the goal line. Perlini beat Price with a slap shot to the stick side for a 2-0 lead.

Ekman-Larsson sprung Perlini on a breakaway on the same shift and he beat Price for a 3-0 lead at 1:16.
"I have scored on the same shift before but I don't know that I have ever scored within 19 seconds," Perlini said.
Gallagher made it 3-1 on the power play at 5:46 of the third period when his shot banked off Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson's shin pad and into the net.
Carr made it 3-2 at 7:38. After the goal, Raanta skated to the bench and chewed out his teammates for playing too loose.

"I got a little bit hot," Raanta said. "They pretty much laughed at it."
Rieder scored on the power play off a pass from Keller for a 4-2 advantage at 10:46. He has two goals in his past three games.
Archibald scored on a high backhand at 16:01 for a 5-2 lead.

Goal of the game

Perlini's goal at 1:16 of the second period.

Save of the game

Raanta's save on Nikita Scherbak at 5:02 of the first period.

Highlight of the game

Keller's goal at 13:56 of the first period.

They said it

"On any given night we're getting production from certain guys, different lines, which is huge, and we're getting goaltending. You have to have good goaltending to win in this league."-- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet on his team's improved play
"We've just got to find the answer in here. We've got to be pros about everything. That's how we're going to get through this."-- Canadiens forward Daniel Carr

Need to know

Gallagher has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past 10 games. … Keller is the third rookie (Kyle Turris, Martin Hanzal) in Coyotes history to have a four-point game. … Ekman-Larsson tied his NHL career high with three assists.

What's next

Canadiens: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN360, CITY, TVAS, ATTSN-RM, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; FS-A, SNW, NHL.TV)