Laine scores again as Canadiens beat Red Wings 5-1 to take two-game series on consecutive nights

MONTREAL (AP) — Patrik Laine scored on the power play again, and the Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings for the second straight night, winning 5-1 on Saturday.

Juraj Slafkovsky, Jake Evans, Emil Heineman and Brendan Gallagher also scored in Montreal's season-high third straight win. Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson each had two assists.

Sam Montembeault stopped 20 shots in his ninth consecutive start — and second in two nights against Detroit. The Canadiens beat the Red Wings 4-2 in Detroit on Friday.

Joe Veleno opened the scoring early in the first for Detroit, and Alex Lyon made 19 saves.

Laine scored for the eighth time — all with the man-advantage — in nine games since returning from a pre-season knee injury. He beat Lyon with an attempted pass from the left circle with 39 seconds left in the first period.

Red Wings: Detroit dropped to seventh in the Atlantic Division behind Montreal. Veleno, a 24-year-old from Montreal, scored in his third straight game after scoring once in his first 26 to start the season.

Canadiens: Montreal looks like a different team with Laine in the lineup, improving to 6-3-0 since his debut on Dec. 3.

Laine broke Moritz Seider's stick with a shot for the second straight night, midway through the first period with the puck deflecting into the netting. On Friday night, Laine scored the game-winner with a one-timer that broke Seider's stick en route to going in.

Laine became the first player on record (since 1933-34) to score eight straight power-play goals for a team. He also became the third forward to score his first eight goals of a season with the man-advantage, joining Yvan Cournoyer (1966-67, 1965-66) and Owen Nolan (1995-96).

Red Wings host St. Louis on Monday, and Canadiens visit Columbus.

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

Montreal Canadiens' Jake Evans (71) clips Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon (34) after being hooked by Red Wings' William Lagesson (84) during third-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Alexandre Carrier (45) is upended by Detroit Red Wings' Vladimir Tarasenko (11) during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon is scored on by Montreal Canadiens' Brendan Gallagher, not shown, as Red Wings' Justin Holl looks on during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky (20) looks on as the puck gets past Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon for a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Jake Evans reacts after scoring against the Detroit Red Wings during first-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault, top, makes a glove-save against Detroit Red Wings' Alex DeBrincat (33) during second-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Detroit Red Wings' Justin Holl (3) defends against Montreal Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky (20) as he moves in on Red Wings goalie Alex Lyon during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Cole Caufield (13) reacts to a goal by teammate Patrik Laine, not shown, against Detroit Red Wings goaltender Alex Lyon (34) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Montreal, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)

LONDON (AP) — Political opposition leaders in the United Kingdom have called for a human rights activist to be stripped of his citizenship over past social media posts allegedly containing violent and antisemitic language within days of the dual national returning to Britain after years in Egyptian prisons.

The leaders of the Conservative and Reform parties also demanded the deportation of Alaa Abd el-Fattah following the discovery of tweets from more than a decade ago in which he allegedly endorsed killing “Zionists’’ and police.

“The comments he made on social media about violence against Jews, white people and the police, amongst others, are disgusting and abhorrent,” Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch wrote Monday in the Daily Mail newspaper.

Abd el-Fattah on Monday apologized for the tweets while saying some had been taken out of context and misrepresented.

The activist has spent years in Egyptian prisons, most recently for allegedly spreading fake news about the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. He returned to the U.K. on Friday after Egyptian authorities lifted a travel ban that had forced him to remain in the country since he was released in September.

But he immediately became embroiled in controversy after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “delighted” that Abd el-Fattah was back in the UK and had been reunited with his family.

That triggered the republication of messages on the social media platform Twitter, now X, that were described as antisemitic, homophobic and anti-British.

Abd el-Fattah expressed shock at the turn of events in a statement released Monday.

“I am shaken that, just as I am being reunited with my family for the first time in 12 years, several historic tweets of mine have been republished and used to question and attack my integrity and values, escalating to calls for the revocation of my citizenship,’’ he said.

The remarks were mostly expressions of a young man’s anger and frustrations in a time of regional crises such as the wars in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza and the rise of police brutality against young people in Egypt, Abd el-Fattah said.

“Looking at the tweets now — the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning — I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise,’’ he said in the statement.

But that has not staunched the flow of anger from politicians.

Reform Party leader Nigel Farage described the posts as “abhorrent” and said they showed Abd el-Fattah held views that are “completely opposed to our British way of life.”

“It should go without saying that anyone who possesses racist and anti-British views such as those of Mr. elFattah (sic) should not be allowed into the UK,” Farage wrote in a letter to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who oversees immigration matters.

FILE - Pro-democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who was in prison for almost all of the past 12 years, speaks to his friends at his home after he got a presidential pardon, in Cairo, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Khaled Elfiqi, File)