Canucks thumped by Montreal, 5-1

In Vancouver, the Canucks had appeared to be getting healthier in the last few games, and then the Montreal Canadiens came to town.

Carey Price made 23 saves and the Habs blasted the Canucks, 5-1, on Wednesday night.

“I thought it was our best game,” Montreal head coach Dominique Ducharme said. “We were relentless in everything we were doing and we made it really hard for them and then we could counter, we could go on to offense and bring our speed because we were connected, and that’s what we’re working on.”

Montreal is 3-0-3 in their last six and 3-1-3 under their new coach.

Brock Boeser had the lone Vancouver goal.

“They came out hungrier right from the start and they outworked us. That’s all there is to it,” Boeser said. “We’ve been playing pretty good hockey lately. I think everyone in the room can say they’re not happy with that performance. We know our standard. That’s unacceptable.”

The Canucks’ three-game win streak was snapped.

Phillip Danault picked up his first goal of the season.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi had a goal for Montreal to stake them to a 1-0 lead.

“I think [the new lines] worked really good,” Kotkaniemi said. “[Toffoli] is really good with the puck and he always find guys where they are, and everyone knows [Brendan Gallagher] is working really hard, so he’s doing most of my jobs too, so it’s really easy for me.”

Corey Perry pushed the lead to 2-0.

Shea Weber and Jeff Petry also scored for the Habs.

“Not every night a certain line is going to be carrying your team, so the balance helps,” Weber said. “You know if someone is off one night, another line will pick them up, another [defense] pair will pick them up and pick up the slack, and that’s what good teams are all about.”

Thatcher Demko made 40 saves in the loss.

“It seemed like Montreal was jumping and had a little bit of a quicker step,” Demko said. “Every team is going to have games like that. We strung a couple of wins together there and we had an off night tonight, but now it’s our job to make sure we don’t string a couple of losses together.”