Canadiens searching for 'best hockey' as defensive woes prove costly

Montreal Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky (20) and teammate Nick Suzuki (14) scramble for the puck surrounded by Anaheim Ducks' Jackson LaCombe (2), goaltender Lukas Dostal (1), Mikael Granlund (64) and Jacob Trouba (65) during the final minutes of third period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Sunday, March 15, 2026. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi)

Martin St. Louis saw two young, talented teams — one from the east, the other from the west — trading blows in a thrilling, evenly matched game he felt was destined for overtime on Sunday.

Then he watched his group break down.

“We didn’t manage the risk properly. I think we were too aggressive, lacking a little bit of execution,” the Montreal Canadiens coach said. “We gave up good chances at the end of the game that we didn’t need to give up.”

Cutter Gauthier scored the winner with 2:30 remaining in regulation as the Anaheim Ducks edged the Canadiens 4-3 in a back-and-forth affair.

Alone in front of the net, Gauthier took a smooth behind-the-back pass from Jeffrey Viel and quickly snapped a shot past Montreal goalie Jacob Fowler for the go-ahead goal, capitalizing on a defensive miscue.

Canadiens blueliner Kaiden Guhle fell with two Ducks near him in the corner.

Defence partner Lane Hutson and Cole Caufield then both joined him along the boards, only for Gauthier to cut to the crease and make himself available for Viel’s highlight-reel assist.

Fowler, a 21-year-old rookie playing his second game since being recalled Wednesday from the AHL, had also bailed out the Canadiens’ defence with sensational glove saves on Jansen Harkins and Leo Carlsson two minutes earlier.

“We were lucky Fowler made those big stops, and then we make another mistake and give them a goal,” said St. Louis, who continued to harp on his young team’s risk-management.

“To be hungry to win or to be afraid to lose, the line is thin,” he added. “We are a good enough team to put ourselves in situations where the players, especially the talented players we have, are hungry to win. … But there are moments where — especially at 3-3, end of game — it would be OK to be a little scared of losing.

“What hurts us sometimes is also the reason why we are where we are today. There’s still a bit of learning. We have a young team, too. It’s too bad we didn’t earn at least one point tonight.”

It was a second consecutive home loss for the Canadiens, who lost another winnable game 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

Montreal (36-20-10) still sits third in the Atlantic Division, two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for second with one more game played, but only holds a three-point cushion on the Columbus Blue Jackets, the top team outside the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

The Canadiens have a 4-3-2 record since returning from the Olympic break, and admittedly haven’t played to their standard.

“I don’t think we’ve played our best hockey over the last couple of weeks. Yeah, we’ve come away with some wins, but there’s games that we let slip away,” captain Nick Suzuki said. “When you’re coming into this weekend, that we needed to have big games, and I thought that yesterday we didn’t play great and today it was a little bit better, just couldn’t get the job done there.

“It’s a tight race in the playoffs and we got to really bear down. We don’t have too many games remaining, and we don’t want to just let games slip away from us.”

The Canadiens next play Tuesday at the Bell Centre against the rival Boston Bruins, who hold the first wild-card spot in the East and trail the Canadiens by two points.

Gally’s back

Veteran winger Brendan Gallagher — the longest-serving Canadien — returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch Saturday for the first time since playing his first NHL game Jan. 22, 2013.

“It was disappointing when your number’s not called. A little bit of a unique situation, hadn’t been through it before,” he said. “Nothing you can do about the decisions, it’s just a matter of trying to be a pro and get ready for when your time comes.”

A heart-and-soul player, Gallagher has played his entire 14-year and 899-game NHL career with the Canadiens since the franchise drafted him in the fifth round at the 2010 draft.

This season, the 33-year-old from Edmonton, who wears an “A” on his sweater, has six goals and 14 assists through 64 games while averaging a career low 12 minutes 39 seconds of ice time.

“I’ve been around here long enough,” Gallagher said. “I’ve had some veteran players I’ve watched go through it and saw how they handled it. You don’t want to make it about yourself and be a distraction, so tried to stay away and get my work in and get ready for today.

“It was not a good feeling being told you’re not in the lineup, but you just play with the cards you’re dealt, and that was my situation this weekend, so I did what I could to try to give everything tonight.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2026.