Montembeault makes 30 saves, Canadiens defeat Golden Knights for 3rd straight win

LAS VEGAS -- Sam Montembeault made 30 saves to help the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

“In the warmup, I felt super good. I think it was one of my best warmups of the year,” Montembeault said. “So [the mindset] in the room was just to focus and do what we told ourselves all week: Think about nothing, just push. That’s what I tried to do today.”

Zack Bolduc, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Cole Caufield each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens (13-7-3), who have won three straight games.

"We managed the puck well. We played well at 5-on-5, and the guys competed,” Bolduc said. "That made the difference. Happy for ‘Monty’ too."

Mark Stone scored for the Golden Knights (10-6-8), who have lost four in a row (0-2-2). Akira Schmid made 15 saves.

“There were some things to like about the game and what we did,” Vegas forward Jack Eichel said. “Sometimes when it’s not going, you just play a little more direct game and get more pucks to the net. We have an unselfish group in here, and that’s not a bad thing, but sometimes, and I find myself sometimes guilty of it, you’re trying to maybe overpass the puck into the net. Sometimes just getting pucks there and bodies there is a good recipe. We’ll clean it up.”

Bolduc gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead during a delayed penalty at 14:30 of the first period when he buried a cross-ice pass from Slafkovsky.

Caufield pushed it to 2-0 at 2:05 of the second period, roofing a sharp-angle snap shot from along the goal line over Schmid’s right shoulder.

“It happened fast, but Cole is a guy who scores goals from pretty much everywhere,” Bolduc said. “When the puck is on his stick, he’s a dangerous guy. So as soon as you can, you give it to him, and he often finds, well, the vast majority of the time, he manages to either turn that into a goal or a nice play. ... It was quite a shot."

Jake Evans extended the Canadiens lead to 3-0 on a breakaway at 3:36 of the third period. Mike Matheson, who signed a five-year, $30 million contract ($6 million average annual value) on Friday, had the secondary assist on the goal.

Stone cut the deficit to 3-1 at 15:16, finishing from in tight after receiving a pass from Mitch Marner.

“You want your players playing to their strength, whatever that is,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “If it’s playmaking, then make plays, but make them, right? Dig in and make it. If you’re a shooter, then make sure you’re hitting the net on your opportunities. You can go right down the list with different guys, but that’s how I look at it.”

Slafkovsky scored an empty-net goal at 18:03 for the 4-1 final.

“The goal (early) in the third helped,” Montembeault said. “It allowed us, especially playing a back-to-back, to roll our lines a bit more in the third. So, I felt good throughout the game. It’s fun to have worked during the week and to see the effect it has in a game. Now we try to build on that and find that consistency."

NOTES: Stone, who returned to Vegas lineup on Wednesday after missing 16 games with an upper-body injury, has recorded a point in each of his first eight games of the season. It’s the longest stretch with a point to open a season in his career, ahead of 2024-25 and 2020-21 (both five games). … Caufield scored his 27th career game-winning goal, which marks the fourth-most in franchise history by a player before age 25, behind Guy Lafleur (37), Stephane Richer (34), and Bernie Geoffrion (32).