MONTREAL — Juraj Slafkovsky scored his first NHL goal for the Montreal Canadiens in a 6-2 win against the Arizona Coyotes at the Bell Center on Thursday.
Slafkovsky, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, scored on a wrist shot to give the Canadiens a 4-0 lead at 8:17 of the second period. He was given a standing ovation when the goal was announced, which was also his first NHL point in his fifth career game.
Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki scored, and Jake Allen made 25 saves for Montreal (3-2-0), which had goals on its second, third and fourth shots of the game.
Travis Boyd had a goal and an assist, and Lawson Crouse had two assists for Arizona (1-3-0). Connor Ingram made 24 saves in his first start for the Coyotes since he was claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 10.
Josh Anderson gave Montreal a 1-0 lead at 1:58 of the first period, after knocking in a rebound Jonathan Drouin‘s shot went off the post.
Caufield made it 2-0 at 4:13 off an offensive zone turnover for his fourth goal in five games, and Brendan Gallagher extended it to 3-0 at 7:17 from the left face-off circle for his first goal of the season.
After Slavkovsky’s goal made it 4-0, Suzuki scored on a penalty shot at 18:27 of the second period. Hooked by Coyotes forward Clayton Keller on a breakaway, the Canadiens captain went wide and cut across the crease before flipping the puck softly over Ingram’s glove.
JJ Moser made it 5-1 at 6:21 of the third period, and Boyd made it 5-2 at 8:18 with a tap-in backdoor.
Sean Monahan scored an empty net goal at 16:36 for the 6-2 final.
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