Canadiens top Flames in home opener
After opening their season in style with an impressive six-game road trip, the Montreal Canadiens looked just as comfortable on home ice Thursday night.
Brendan Gallagher, Shea Weber, Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli scored as the Canadiens rolled to a 42 win over the Calgary Flames in their home opener at Bell Centre.
“Everything is just clicking pretty good,” said Montreal forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi. “It’s the feeling. Everything is just feeling right at the moment.”
Kotkaniemi and Jonathan Drouin had two assists apiece as the Canadiens (5-0-2) remained unbeaten in regulation time this season.
Calgary’s Milan Lucic ended Carey Price’s shutout bid with 78 seconds left in the third period. Rasmus Andersson added a second powerplay goal for the Flames with 22.7 seconds to play.
The Canadiens looked fresh but a tad scattered on occasion after returning to game action for the first time since Saturday’s 5-2 win in Vancouver. The Flames, coming off a 4-3 loss to Toronto on Tuesday, also had some early zip but an early Juuso Valimaki hooking call proved costly.
With the penalty winding down, Kotkaniemi found Corey Perry stationed by the side of the crease. Perry made a deft no-look backpass to Gallagher, who one-timed it in at 10:07.
The assist left the veteran Perry, who signed a one-year deal with the Canadiens last month, just one point shy of the 800-mark for his career.
Another Montreal power-play goal made it 2-0 at 15:39. Weber fired a shot from inside the point that was going wide but deflected off Valimaki’s stick and left Calgary netminder David Rittich frozen.
“Just little things, little breakdowns cost us a couple goals there,” said Flames defenceman Mark Giordano.
“I thought from there on we started taking way too many risks through the neutral zone and against a goods-tructured team, they’re going to make you pay.”
Kotkaniemi flashed his speed midway through the second period to set up a 2-on-1 break. His snapshot was stopped but Anderson swatted the chest-high rebound into the net at 8:21.
Price, meanwhile, was steady when called upon. The Flames had some chances but couldn’t deliver any sustained pressure.