Schmaltz, Coyotes send Canadiens to sixth straight loss

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Nick Schmaltz had a goal and two assists, and the Arizona Coyotes ran the Montreal Canadiens' losing streak to six games with a 5-2 win at Gila River Arena on Monday.

Johan Larsson had a goal and an assist, and Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves for the Coyotes (9-24-4), who had lost 11 of their previous 14 games (3-9-2).
"I thought we got off to a good start. We made a lot of plays with the puck and played with a lot of confidence," Schmaltz said. "It's good to see, and it's good to get a tough win for our team."

Rem Pitlick scored his first goal for the Canadiens (7-25-5), who have lost 13 of their past 14 games (1-10-3) and haven't won since Dec. 16. Cayden Primeau made 12 saves on 16 shots before being replaced at the start of the third period by Sam Montembeault, who made six saves.
"Changing the momentum a little bit," Montreal coach Dominique Ducharme said of the goalie change. "Sometimes just spark a team. We cannot say it was Primeau's] fault, but we wanted to see Montembeault in the third and see what would happen."
Schmaltz, who was moved up to the Coyotes' top line after playing on the fourth line during a 5-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, set up Travis Boyd's ninth goal of the season at 5:19 of the first period for a 1-0 lead. Boyd has one more goal than he scored in his previous three NHL seasons combined.
"Obviously, we're not in the position we want to be in, but we still want to bring it every night and set the bar high and make sure we're not taking any nights off," Schmaltz said. "It may not be this year that we're successful in the standings, but we want to play the right way and keep building as an organization."
Larsson scored his fifth goal in six games off Phil Kessel's cross-ice pass to make it 2-0 at 8:18.
"We started really strong in the first and after we took the lead 2-0, maybe we slowed down a little bit there," Coyotes assistant Mario Duhamel said. "But besides that 10 minutes of that first, we came back strong in the second and third to shut them down."
Pitlick, claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 12, cut it to 2-1 at 15:11 after Jonathan Drouin stole the puck from defenseman
[Victor Soderstrom
along the boards and fed it to Pitlick.
"We're not going to give up on the on the season," Drouin said. "There's stuff you can build even though you're [among] the last teams in the League. We have young players, we have stuff we want to build for the next year, so we can't give up."

J.J. Moser drove to the slot off his own rebound and scored unassisted on a backhand shot to make it 3-1 at 4:27 of the second period. Ryan Poehling deflected Drouin's one-timer from the right face-off circle on a Canadiens power play to make it 3-2 at 11:13.
Schmaltz gave Arizona a 4-2 lead with 1:58 left in the second. Montreal unsuccessfully challenged that Antoine Roussel interfered with Primeau after steering the puck to Schmaltz from the crease. It was Schmaltz's second goal of the season and first since Dec. 11.
"I just went to the net and just get pushed around a little bit, but I was able to just pass it back to him," Roussel said. "He was in a great spot and he can put it anywhere."
Clayton Keller scored into an empty net at 18:18 of the third period for the 5-2 final.
"Everyone wants to win, every game is important for us," Primeau said. "We tried it and it didn't work out."
NOTES: The Canadiens are 2-15-4 on the road. … Montreal goalie Jake Allen (lower body) had an MRI on Monday and is expected to be out about one week. He was injured against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday. … Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny missed his fourth game in NHL COVID-19 protocol. … Moser's goal was his third, matching Arizona assistant Phil Housley for the most in a defenseman's first 10 games with the Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets. … Kessel has scored 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in his past nine games against Montreal.