Canadiens Take 3-1 Lead Over Blackhawks

Chicago and Montreal met in an Original Six matchup as both teams continued rebuilding around young talent, with Montreal coming off a conference-finals appearance last season. Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill cited Montreal’s progress as a model, saying Chicago needed to manage games better and avoid costly mistakes. Montreal played without captain Nick Suzuki, who was expected to miss two to four weeks, while Chicago returned from a five-day break after a shutout loss. Connor Bedard opened the scoring for Chicago, but Jake Evans scored twice and a Kaiden Guhle shot gave Montreal a 3-1 lead in the second period.