Recap: Coyotes Come Up Short vs. Canadiens

GLENDALE -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored a power-play goal and Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 of 28 shots for the Coyotes in a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night at Gila River Arena.
Arizona played solid defense, but its scoring slump continued for a third consecutive game. Montreal's Carey Price stopped all but one of 37 shots he faced to earn his 300th win as an NHL goaltender.

"Carey Price is world-class, he made some great saves," Coyotes Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "I thought we missed the net a couple times there when we had people in front. We've got to hit those nets. But the guys worked hard. I thought we defended well. I don't think they had a lot of Grade-A chances."

Neither team scored in the first period, but Nick Cousins was called for roughing in the final moment to set up a power play for Montreal to start the second period. Canadiens captain Shea Weber converted the penalty into a goal by ripping a shot past Kuemper from the point just 22 seconds into the middle stanza.

Not to be outdone by his counterpart, Ekman-Larsson floated a power-play shot through traffic and past Price at 6:49 of the second period to pull Arizona into a 1-1 tie. Ekman-Larsson has notched 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 13 games vs. Montreal in his career, and his 47 power-play goals are the most by an NHL defenseman since the start of the 2013-14 season.

The stalemate lasted until Paul Byron put Montreal ahead for good with a backdoor tap-in goal just 76 seconds into the third period. The Coyotes managed just eight shots on goal from that point and Price stopped them all, including a long wrister by Nick Schmaltz with 11 seconds left.
"We're close, but we don't get points for being close," Ekman-Larsson said. "... We did a better job of managing the puck and getting the puck deep when we didn't have the chance to make a play and stuff like that. I thought we played better than the last couple games, but now we've got to look ahead and try to get even better and try to find ways to win. We're trying to get back in the race and we're trying to find our game right now."

• Alex Galchenyuk skated 16:30, took two shots on goal and won six of 10 face-offs in his first game against Montreal since the Coyotes acquired him from the Canadiens in an off-season trade for Max Domi.

Galchenyuk, who played the first six seasons of his NHL career for Montreal, said he was psyched to face his former team.
"I was fired up," Galchenyuk said. "There were a lot of emotions, but the second the puck drops it's another game. Unfortunately, we didn't get the win."
• Stats that jump off the Event Summary: Derek Stepan led all forwards in ice time at 21:19, and Ilya Lyubushkin set a career-high with four shots on goal.