Montembeault, Anderson lift Canadiens over Red Wings 4-1 for sixth straight win

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Montreal Canadiens’ Josh Anderson (17) celebrates his go-ahead goal in front of Detroit Red Wings’ J.T. Compher (37) during third period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Lane Hutson (48) is checked into the boards by Detroit Red Wings’ Lucas Raymond (23) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Detroit Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot (39) makes a glove save as Montreal Canadiens’ Christian Dvorak (28) looks for the rebound against Red Wings’ Simon Edvinsson (77) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) stops a shot by Detroit Red Wings’ Alex DeBrincat (93) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Detroit Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin (71) celebrates his goal over Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Detroit Red Wings’ Dylan Larkin (71) celebrates his goal over Montreal Canadiens with teammates Moritz Seider (53), Alex DeBrincat (93) and Patrick Kane (88) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Jayden Struble (47) checks Detroit Red Wings’ Jonatan Berggren (48) into the boards during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Detroit Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot (39) stops a shot by Montreal Canadiens’ Oliver Kapanen (91) during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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Montreal Canadiens’ Cole Caufield (13) celebrates his goal over Detroit Red Wings goaltender Cam Talbot (39) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

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MONTREAL (AP) — Josh Anderson scored the winner with 9:12 remaining in the third period and Sam Montembeault made 35 saves as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight win.

Cole Caufield – with his team-leading 37th – also scored while Brendan Gallagher and Nick Suzuki added empty-netters for Montreal, which strengthened its position in the playoff picture.

Montreal built an eight-point cushion over Detroit, the New York Rangers and the Columbus Blue Jackets for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot with one more game played. The New York Islanders played the Nashville Predators later Tuesday.

By beating Detroit, Montreal also helped the Ottawa Senators clinch a playoff spot for the first time since 2017.

Dylan Larkin scored for Detroit and Cam Talbot stopped 17 shots. The Red Wings failed to earn a point for the first time in five games.

Takeaways

Canadiens: Another slow start for Montreal, which was playing its fifth game in eight nights. The Canadiens’ habit of struggling to start games reached a new level when the Red Wings poured on 23 shots in the first period, the most Montreal has allowed in a period this season.

Red Wings: Detroit’s first-period shot total wasn’t far off the 27.2 it averaged entering Tuesday’s game. The Red Wings’ playoff hopes died in this building last season despite pulling off a dramatic 5-4 shootout win in their regular-season finale.

Key moment

After Caufield’s equalizer, Detroit’s J.T. Compher missed a gaping net after a weird bounce around the boards left Montembeault out of his net. Compher’s attempt floated high.

Key stat

Suzuki reached 86 points this season, giving him the highest total by a Canadien since Pierre Turgeon (96) and Vincent Damphousse (94) in 1995-96 — more than three years before Montreal’s captain was born.

Up next

Detroit plays the second game of a three-game trip at Florida on Thursday. Montreal is at Ottawa on Friday.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl