Nick Suzuki scores in OT to give Canadiens 5-4 win over Canucks

MONTREAL (AP) — Nick Suzuki scored a power-play goal 48 seconds into overtime and also had two assists as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 on Monday night.

Lane Hutson also had a goal and two assists, Cole Caufield had a goal and an assist, and Kaiden Guhle and Kirby Dach also scored for Montreal. Sam Montembeault stopped 16 shots to help the Canadiens win for the fifth time in six games and eighth in their last 10.

J.T. Miller had two goals and two assists, and Jake DeBrusk and Jonathan Lekkerimaki also scored for Vancouver, which has lost seven of its last nine. Kevin Lankinen made 19 saves.

Captain Quinn Hughes, last year’s Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman, had two assists in his return from a four-game absence for the injury-plagued Canucks. He played in his 400th career game.

Canadiens: Miller and Lekkerimaki scored 20 seconds apart early in the second period to give Vancouver a two-goal lead. However, Montreal fought back with three straight goals.

Canucks: Lekkerimaki stepped up with his first career multi-point game the same day he was recalled from the AHL to replace injured forward Dakota Joshua. The 20-year-old Swede has two goals and one assist in six NHL games, all this season.

Dach and Hutson scored in the first seven minutes of the third period to give Montreal a 4-3 lead. Then 12 seconds after Caufield took a penalty, Miller set up DeBrusk on the power play for his 17th to tie the score at 8:51.

Hutson, a Calder Trophy candidate as NHL rookie of the year, became the fastest defenseman in Canadiens history to hit 30 points, reaching the milestone in 42 games. Chris Chelios held the previous record of 45.

Canucks visit Washington on Wednesday, and Canadiens play at Washington on Friday.

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

Montreal Canadiens right wing Cole Caufield celebrates after scoring the first goal against the Vancouver Canucks during first-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Emil Heineman (51) is stopped by Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) as Canucks' Vincent Desharnais (73) moves in to defend during first-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens' Lane Hutson (48) is stopped by Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen (32) as Canucks' Noah Juulsen (47) moves in to defend during first-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) makes a save against Vancouver Canucks' Jake DeBrusk (74) during second-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks' Jonathan Lekkerimaki, (23) celebrates with teammates after scoring the third goal against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) during second-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Vancouver Canucks center J.T. Miller (9) scores the second goal against Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault (35) during second-period NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP) n Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens center Kirby Dach (77) looks on as a shot by teammate Nick Suzuki beats Vancouver Canucks goaltender Kevin Lankinen, left, for the winning goal during overtime NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki (14) celebrates with teammates after scoring the winning goal against the Vancouver Canucks in overtime NHL hockey game action in Montreal, Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)