Canadiens vs. Blackhawks: Jake Evans Scores Twice, Including a Shorthanded Dagger, in 4-1 Win

Connor Bedard did the Connor Bedard thing early, roofing a shot over Jacob Fowler's glove 4:23 into the night, and for a few minutes it looked like Chicago's evening. Then Jake Evans, a forward who had not scored all season, decided this was going to be his game instead.

Evans scored twice, one of them shorthanded, and set up another as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 on Friday night. His three points matched his career high, according to the AP, and he did it on a night Montreal played without captain Nick Suzuki.

Bedard Strikes, Montreal Settles In

The opening goal was a reminder of why Chicago builds around him. Patrick Kane found him with a backhand pass through the neutral zone, and Bedard did the rest, gaining the zone and going upstairs over Fowler's glove for his second goal of the season.

From there, the game tilted. The first period started wide open, but Montreal gradually took the air out of it and was limiting Chicago's chances by the middle of the frame, per the AP. Bedard took an elbowing penalty just 26 seconds after his goal, and Juraj Slafkovský answered with an elbowing minor of his own at 12:10. Neither power play produced anything.

Evans finally broke through at 17:29. Working below the goal line on the left side, Evans took a quick touch pass from Kirby Dach, wheeled into the slot and went glove side on Spencer Knight. It was his first goal of the season, and it tied the game 1-1 heading into the second.

The Turning Point: The Shorthanded Dagger

Montreal spent a chunk of the second period testing its penalty kill. Zachary Bolduc went off for tripping at 3:59, and Chris Kreider was whistled for high-sticking at 6:36, giving Chicago another power play and a real chance to retake the lead.

Instead, the Blackhawks gave up the goal that decided the night. Montreal broke out on a 2-on-1, Evans drove down the left side, and his wrist shot from the left faceoff dot beat Knight on the stick side at 7:45. Kaiden Guhle had the lone assist. Montreal led 2-1 while skating a man down, and Chicago never recovered.

Bedard did not dodge it afterward. "Something we can't do," he said of the shorthanded goal. "They had probably two or three 2-on-1s that obviously can't happen." For a team trying to learn how to win, that is the lesson in one sentence: a power play that looks good is not the same as a power play that scores.

Montreal added insurance at 18:26 of the second. Guhle let a wrister go from the left point, and with Josh Anderson parked in front, Knight never saw it. Evans had the primary assist for his third point, and it was 3-1 after 40 minutes.

The third period was a clinic in boring hockey, the good kind if you are Montreal. Fowler needed to make only three saves in the final 20 minutes, according to the AP, and Mike Matheson scored into an empty net at 17:22 to seal it. That was Matheson's first goal of the season, and it came in his first game back after missing four with a lower-body injury, per NHL.com.

Stars of the Night

Evans finished with two goals, an assist and a plus-4 in 17:12, and he went 7-for-12 on faceoffs. He also put the night in context. "With Nick going down, I think everyone felt like they needed to take another step in their game," he said.

Guhle had a goal and an assist in 23:30 with three hits and two blocked shots. "Yeah, gritty road win," he said, which is the most Montreal defenseman sentence ever spoken.

Fowler made 20 saves on 21 shots and was barely tested once Montreal got its footing. Phillip Danault won 14 of 19 faceoffs and assisted on Matheson's empty-netter.

For Chicago, Bedard scored his second goal in 20:06 but struggled at the dot, winning just five of 15 draws. Kane had the assist on Bedard's goal, and Knight made 24 saves. Bedard was candid about his own night. "Maybe you're trying to do too much, myself included," he said.

Stats That Matter

• 62.7: Montreal's faceoff percentage on a 42-25 edge in draws. The Canadiens owned the puck.
• 0-for-5: Chicago's power play, which also coughed up Evans' shorthanded winner.
• 3: Shots Fowler had to stop in the third period.
• 23-11: Montreal's edge in hits.
• 28-21: Canadiens shots. Not a blowout, but Montreal had the better of play after the opening stretch.

What It Means

Montreal improves to 5-3-2 with 12 points and is 4-1-1 in its last six, according to the AP. That matters after Tuesday, when the Canadiens blew a two-goal third-period lead in a 4-3 overtime loss to San Jose, per NHL.com. "We're lucky it's early in the year and we can correct it," Evans said. Suzuki will be out two to four weeks with an upper-body injury, per NHL.com, so these kinds of wins by committee are going to be the job for a while. Next up is a big one: the Heritage Classic outdoors in Winnipeg on Sunday.

Chicago falls to 3-7-0 with six points and has lost two in a row and four of its last six, per the AP. The Blackhawks are 3-3-0 at home and host Florida on Sunday. One bright spot came from the blue line: according to NHL.com, Ian Cole joined Ryan McDonagh as the second defenseman from the 2007 NHL Draft to reach 1,000 NHL games.

Script Flipped

Guhle summed it up best: "That's the way you script a road win." Spot the home team a highlight-reel goal from its franchise star, settle down, win the faceoff battle, and let a guy who had not scored all season steal the spotlight. It was not a blockbuster. It was a well-made procedural, and Montreal got to roll the credits on Bedard's big moment.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press and NHL.com; postgame quotes as reported by NHL.com.