Goaltending not enough for Flames
MONTREAL Flames goalie David Rittich did everything he could to keep Calgary in the game for the second straight outing, but he fell just short against the Montreal Canadiens.
After a 44-save performance against the Rangers his last time out, Rittich made 37 saves as the Flames dropped a 3-2 contest to the Canadiens on Tuesday night.
The Czech goalie was by far Calgary’s best player, keeping the score close while his teammates failed to generate enough offence.
“He’s not God out there,” said Matthew Tkachuk of his goalie. “He can’t stop everything. At one point they’re just going to go in. They keep getting these chances. Eventually it’s going to go in.
“It was a bad effort after we got away with one in New York because of our goalie. And maybe tonight we can return him the favour and play well and bail him out, but the opposite again.”
Rittich was locked in to start the night.
The undrafted 26-year-old made big saves on Canadiens forwards Jonathan Drouin and Max Domi early in the first period to set the tone for the encounter. He made a breakaway glove save on Artturi Lehkonen look easy.
The Flames jumped to a 1-0 lead at 16:46 of the first period when Tkachuk’s shot bounced off Michael Frolik’s skate past Carey Price.
With Calgary still holding onto the lead in the second, Rittich made four saves on four different Canadiens players in a two-second span. First came Xavier Ouellet’s shot from the point, followed by three quick rebounds by Phillip Danault, Victor Mete and Brendan Gallagher on the doorstep.
Rittich finally met his match when Jeff Petry fired a one-timer from the faceoff dot at 15:50. Again playing with the man advantage, the Canadiens made it 2-1 after Gallagher redirected Petry’s sharp pass behind Rittich at 17:29.
With 49 seconds left in the second, Drouin found some daylight between Rittich’s arm and his post as the winger extended his point streak to five games.
PENGUINS 6, OILERS 5 (OT)
EDMONTON — Sidney Crosby scored his first two goals of the season, including a dazzling overtime winner, as the Pittsburgh Penguins emerged with a victory over the Edmonton Oilers.
Jamie Oleksiak and Patric Hornqvist also had two-goal games for the Penguins (4-1-2), who have won two straight.
Leon Draisaitl and Alex Chiasson each scored twice, while Connor McDavid had the other for the Oilers (3-3-1), who have lost two in a row.
COYOTES 4, BLUE JACKETS 1
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Christian Fischer got his first career hat trick, Darcy Kuemper stopped 35 shots and the Arizona Coyotes rallied to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets.
RANGERS 5, PANTHERS 2
NEW YORK — Mats Zuccarello and Mika Zibanejad each scored twice and New York snapped a two-game losing streak.
BRUINS 4, SENATORS 1
OTTAWA — David Pastrnak had two goals and two assists, Patrice Bergeron added a goal and two assists for Boston.
STARS 4, KINGS 2
DALLAS — Jason Spezza and John Klingberg each had a goal and an assist, and Dallas snapped a three-game losing streak.
BLACKHAWKS 3, DUCKS 1
CHICAGO — Patrick Kane scored in the third period, Corey Crawford made 24 saves and Chicago handed Anaheim its third straight loss.
Rickard Rakell scored for Anaheim, and John Gibson finished with 35 saves.
SHARKS 5, PREDATORS 4
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Brent Burns scored with 2:52 remaining to cap a rally from a late two-goal deficit, and San Jose beat Nashville.
Tomas Hertl, Timo Meier, Brenden Dillon, and Joe Pavelski also scored for the Sharks, who won their third straight.
Nashville’s Viktor Arvidsson had two goals and one assist. Filip Forsberg and Craig Smith added goals.