Suzuki scores twice, Canadiens rally past Mammoth

SALT LAKE CITY -- Nick Suzuki had two goals and an assist, and the Montreal Canadiens rallied to defeat the Utah Mammoth 4-3 at Delta Center on Wednesday.

Zack Bolduc had a goal and two assists, Ivan Demidov scored the game-winning goal in the third period, and Jakub Dobes made 31 saves for the Canadiens (12-7-3), who have won two straight games.

“We weren't giving them much for the first half of the game, and then the second half of that second period, they started going,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “The message was we felt like we had that game in the first half and we lost it. We got to go get it back. And I felt like we did what we had to do to go get it back.”

Barrett Hayton, Michael Carcone, and Kailer Yamamoto scored for the Mammoth (12-9-3), who have lost five of their past seven (2-2-3). Karel Vejmelka made 13 saves.

“I think we played a good game, but unfortunately we got beat on our strength,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “Our [penalty kill] has been our strength since the start of the season. Tonight we were not as sharp on our PK.”

Bolduc opened the scoring at 10:38 of the first period, firing a one-timer past Vejmelka on the power play to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead.

“I think we fought hard,” said Bolduc, who recorded his first career three-point game. “We had a bit of a lull, 10 minutes in the second period, and then I think the motto when we came back for the third was to work, keep things simple, play with what the game gave us, and then go get that game back because we had it, we kind of gave it away, and we wanted to get it back.”

Suzuki made it 2-0 at 16:37, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Cole Caufield.

The goal was the 400th NHL point for Suzuki, who required the fifth-fewest games to reach the 400-point mark among Canadiens players to debut with the franchise in the expansion era (477 games).

“I'm just trying to do my best out there,” Suzuki said. “I get to play with a lot of great players every single night and you know they've helped me get to where I am today so I'm definitely grateful for that.”

Hayton scored on the power play at 9:43 of the second period to make it 2-1, beating Dobes on the glove side with a snap shot from the right circle off a quick pass from Clayton Keller up from the goal line.

“I thought we did a really good job in that second period, just managing the game better,” Hayton said. “We found a way, and we dug ourselves a bit of a hole in the second period, so I think we did a good job with that tonight, but it wasn’t good enough.”

Yamamoto tied the game 2-2 at 11:58, scoring at the netfront off a backhand pass from Dylan Guenther from outside the left post.

Carcone gave the Mammoth a 3-2 lead at 13:52, picking up his own rebound and chipping it over Dobes for the goal.

Juraj Slafkovsky looked to have tied the game at 2:31 of the third period, but the Mammoth challenged the play and it was ruled that Slafkovsky was offside prior to the goal.

Suzuki tied the game 3-3 at 3:20 of the third period with a one-timer when a rebound came to him in the left circle.

Demidov gave the Canadiens a 4-3 lead at 4:47, picking up a loose puck just inside the Mammoth blue line and beating Vejmelka with a shot on the blocker side.

“The Demidov goal was a big goal,” St. Louis said. “After that, we defended against a team that brings a lot of speed. We got the job done five against six. Dobes played an excellent game. Nothing was perfect, but we found our best.”

NOTES: Canadiens defenseman Adam Engstrom made his NHL debut on Wednesday after being selected in the third round (No. 92) in the 2022 NHL Draft. “I was a little bit nervous at the start. Once you get into it, it's fine,” said Engstrom. “It was an awesome experience and really good that we got away with the win too.” ... Mammoth defenseman Sean Durzi returned to the ice after missing the last 21 games with an upper-body injury. “Just wanted to contribute,” said Durzi on his return. “Whether it's on the ice, off the ice, bring some energy, do something.”