Music: {allcanada} Beleskey, Andersen give Ducks win at Canadiens

Thursday, December 18, 2014

{allcanada} Beleskey, Andersen give Ducks win at Canadiens

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MONTREAL -- Matt Beleskey scored 8:33 into the third period to give the Anaheim Ducks a 2-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Thursday.

Beleskey took a pass from Rickard Rakell and beat Carey Price with a quick wrist shot to restore the Ducks' one-goal lead 3:06 after Montreal tied it.

Beleskey leads the Ducks with 15 goals.

Frederik Andersen made 23 saves in his 20th straight start, and Hampus Lindholm scored in the first period for Anaheim, which has won eight of nine, including a 6-2 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

The Ducks (22-7-5), who lead the NHL with 49 points, finish a five-game Canada road trip Friday at the Ottawa Senators.

David Desharnais drew Montreal even at 1-1 with a power-play goal at 5:27 of the third period.

Price made 21 saves for the Canadiens (20-11-2), who won the first three games of a five-game homestand that end against Ottawa on Saturday.

The Canadiens honored longtime captain Saku Koivu during a pregame ceremony. Koivu, who spent his first 13 NHL seasons with Montreal from 1995-2009, retired on Sept. 10 after five seasons with Anaheim.

Lindholm gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead with his fourth goal at 8:16 of the first period.

Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf, Koivu's teammate for the past five seasons, got his team-leading 25th assist and 35th point when he set up Lindholm's fourth goal at 8:06 of the first.

Getzlaf controlled the puck after winning a faceoff against Manny Malhotra in Montreal's zone, and passed to the left point, where Lindholm one-timed a slap shot past Price into the top left corner.

Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty left the game at 4:04 of the third. Pacioretty, who leads Montreal with 13 goals and 25 points, went to the dressing room after he fell headfirst into the boards following a hit by Anaheim defenseman Clayton Stoner.

Pacioretty sustained an unspecified injury and did not return. No penalty was called.

Ducks forward Patrick Maroon was penalized for interference at 4:40 and Montreal tied the game on the power play.

Desharnais scored his fourth goal at 5:27 when he one-timed a slap shot past Andersen from the right side to finish a passing play with Andrei Markov and Alex Galchenyuk.

Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas!