Dobes, Canadiens hold off Oilers as Draisaitl remains at 999 points

Jakub Dobes stopped 27 shots as the Montreal Canadiens held off the Edmonton Oilers 4-1 and prevented Leon Draisaitl from recording his 1,000th point on Sunday.

Ivan Demidov, Joe Veleno, Nick Suzuki and Alexandre Texier scored for Montreal (17-11-4), which squandered a 3-0 lead to the New York Rangers in a 6-5 overtime loss Saturday. Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson provided two assists each.

Dobes played his first game since the Canadiens lost 6-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, sparking the call-up of up-and-coming netminder Jacob Fowler, who started the two previous games.

Zach Hyman scored and Calvin Pickard stopped 23 shots for Edmonton (15-12-6) in the loss, ending a two-game winning streak.

Draisaitl remained at 999 points through 823 games after picking up three assists in a 6-3 win Saturday over the Toronto Maple Leafs to open a five-game road trip.

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After an entertaining — but scoreless — first period, Demidov picked the top right corner with a wrist shot on the power play to give the Canadiens a 1-0 lead 2:28 into the second.

Veleno then capitalized on a costly turnover from Oilers captain Connor McDavid to double the lead at 11:58. From behind Edmonton’s goal line, McDavid dished the puck into the slot to brace for a hit, only for Veleno to intercept and fire a shot past Pickard for his second of the season.

The Canadiens made it 3-0 on the power play when Slafkovsky found Suzuki at the back post 3:38 into the third period. Hyman replied on an Oilers power play at 12:29, but Texier responded one minute later to restore the three-goal lead.

TAKEAWAYS

Canadiens: Dobes rebounded after two shaky performances. Defenceman Mike Matheson dominated his matchup with McDavid, limiting his time and space throughout the game.

Oilers: Edmonton went 1-for-5 on the power play, including a goalless 5-on-3 advantage for two minutes in the first period. The Oilers were scoring at a 31.3-per cent clip this season — the third-highest rate in the league — before Sunday’s game.

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KEY MOMENT

Dobes denied Edmonton’s high-octane power play during the Oilers’ early two-man advantage. He made six saves, including a desperation pad stop on Hyman and two dangerous shots from Draisaitl.

KEY STAT

Draisaitl is one point away from becoming the 103rd NHL player — and first German — to reach 1,000 points.

UP NEXT

Canadiens: Host the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday.

Oilers: Visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.