By By Shane Lantz, The Associated Press on December 6, 2022.
SEATTLE (AP) – Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson scored in a seven-second span in the second period and the Montreal Canadiens snapped a two-game skid with a 4-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night. Canadiens rookie Johnathan Kovacevic and Seattle rookie Shane Wright scored their first NHL goals in the game. After Kovacevic put Montreal on the board with a goal at 12:56 in the first period, Wright tied it up at 15:30. It was Wright’s first game back after a five-game conditioning stint with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. Wright’s goal came against a Montreal squad that passed him over with the No. 1 pick of the 2022 NHL draft. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde assisted on the goal. Caufield and Anderson answered in the second, scoring at 2:05 and 2:12 to give Montreal a 3-1 lead. Nick Suzuki assisted on Caulfield’s score and Christian Dvorak and Juraj Slafkovsky picking up assists on Anderson’s goal. The Canadiens added to their lead at 18:40 in the second, when Rem Pitlick scored to make it 4-1, with assists going to Joel Edmundson and Jake Evans. Seattle answered with one second left in the period, as Jared McCann scored with an assist from Andre Burakovsky, pulling the Kraken within two goals headed into the third. Seattle goaltender Martin Jones finished with 12 saves. Montreal’s Jake Allen had 31 saves. The Kraken’s two consecutive losses come on the heels of their franchise-record seven-game winning streak, which ended with a 5-1 home loss to Florida on Saturday. Seattle ended its three-game homestand with a 1-2 record, while Montreal went 2-2 on its recent four game trip. NOTES: Seattle forward Morgan Geekie returned to the ice Tuesday after missing each of the past three games with an upper body injury. “¦ Caufield and Anderson’s two second period goals marked the fastest two goals on the road in franchise history. UP NEXT Seattle: At Washington on Friday. Montreal: Host the L.A. Kings on Saturday. ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports 16