Lehner makes 36 saves, Golden Knights defeat Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Robin Lehner made 36 saves and the Vegas Golden Knights scored their first two power-play goals of the season in a come-from-behind 5-2 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Alex Pietrangelo had a goal and an assist for the Golden Knights (6-5-0), who faced the Canadiens for the first time since losing to them in six games in the Stanley Cup Semifinals last season.
"We're going through adversity and we're scratching and clawing to stay in the race and every point matters right now, it's as simple as that," Lehner said. "The League is getting tighter and tighter. You can't fall out of the race early, it's really hard to come back, it doesn't happen that often. You've got to stay in the mix."

Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for Montreal (3-10-0), which has lost four of five. Jake Allen made 13 saves.
"We kind of took our foot off the gas," Suzuki said. "Our first period was great, had a lot of momentum coming in, everyone was feeling good, and then giving up the [power-play] goal just kind of killed that. There were moments in the second and third where we could have scored, and it just didn't go in for us."
Outshot 20-1 in the first, Vegas scored three straight goals in the second to take the lead, scoring on their fourth, sixth and seventh shots of the game, including both of their power-play shots.
"Tonight was not just a poor start, that was a horrendous start," Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said. "It was a whole different level of how we started that game and thankfully our goalie was our best player early. And we've got a lot of character in that room and the guys fixed it."

Pietrangelo scored Vegas' first power-play goal of the season to cut Montreal's lead to 2-1 on a one-timer from the left point at 5:16. The Golden Knights had failed to score in 19 man-advantage opportunities through their first 10 games.
"I think the last week we've been running stuff that we want, and we just haven't really gotten the bounces," Pietrangelo said. "We've been close and sometimes you've just got to simplify it and take the shots when they're there. That's pretty much all we did tonight. We've been looking at a lot of different things, a lot of different ways that we can score, and sometimes you just need a bounce or two to kind of kick-start."
Jonathan Marchessault tied it 2-2 when he scored on a backhand from the edge of the crease at 10:24.
Dylan Coghlan scored Vegas' second power-play goal 12 minutes in with a low shot from the right point on a pass from Pietrangelo for a 3-2 lead.
"When you have a two-goal lead like that, good teams find a way to lock it down," Suzuki said. "They had a power-play goal that made it 2-1 and it seemed like we just kind of backed off a bit, let them have the momentum."

Chandler Stephenson scored into an empty net at 17:09 of the third to make it 4-2, and Lehner got an assist when Brayden McNabb also scored into an empty net with 35 seconds remaining for the 5-2 final.
"It was a good feeling because they kept pressing, and for a goalie, those two open-net goals, they mean a lot," Lehner said.
Suzuki put Montreal up 1-0 when he scored for a third straight game in the first, a power-play goal on a rebound of Mike Hoffman's shot at 17:18.
Suzuki made it three straight multipoint games with an assist on Tyler Toffoli's goal at 18:49. He has seven points (three goals, four assists) during his streak.
NOTES: It was the Golden Knights' first regular-season win in Montreal. … Marchessault has nine points (four goals, five assists) in seven games for Vegas against Montreal. … Canadiens forward Christian Dvorak was minus-3 and is minus-8 in his past two games. … Hoffman's assist on Suzuki's goal was his 400th NHL point (193 goals, 207 assists in 555 games). … Montreal forward Jonathan Drouin missed his second game and remains day to day since he was hit in the head by a shot by teammate Brett Kulak in a 3-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.