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Sports

Flames shoot for first win in Habs' opener at Bell Centre

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

The Calgary Flames will try for their first victory of the season when they visit the Montreal Canadiens for this evening's home opener at the Bell Centre.

The Flames are 0-2-0 on the season and have been outscored by a combined 10-5 margin in those outings.

Calgary's latest setback came Monday in St. Louis, as the Flames kicked off a three-game road trip in disappointing fashion. Alex Pietrangelo and Jason Arnott each notched a goal and an assist as the St. Louis Blues took a 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames.

Curtis Glencross and Jarome Iginla put the puck in the net for Calgary, which fell to 0-2 for the first time since the 2008-09 season. The Flames last went winless over the first three games of a season when they started 0-2-1 in 2007-08.

Henrik Karlsson allowed five goals on 35 shots in the loss and Miikka Kiprusoff is expected to be back between the pipes tonight. Kiprusoff is 7-3-0 with a 2.58 goals-against average in 12 career games against Montreal.

The Canadiens, meanwhile, are coming off a dominating performance in Winnipeg, but that 5-1 victory did come at a cost as forward Michael Cammalleri and defenseman Jaroslav Spacek were both hurt.

Cammalleri, a former Flame, is expected to miss no more than two weeks with a deep cut on his right leg. Spacek will likely be sidelined 2-to-3 weeks with an upper-body injury.

On a positive note, the Canadiens are expected to have forward Lars Eller in the lineup for tonight's home opener. Eller, who had 17 points in 77 games for Montreal last year, is returning from offseason shoulder surgery.

Montreal suffered a 2-0 loss to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs to begin the season last Thursday, but the Canadiens followed that up with their blowout of the Winnipeg Jets. It was the first NHL game in Winnipeg in 15 years after the Atlanta Thrashers were moved to Manitoba over the summer.

Tomas Plekanec had a goal and two assists while Yannick Weber added a goal and an assist for the Canadiens. Carey Price made 30 saves in the win.

"We pretty much played the game we wanted to play for 60 minutes," Montreal right wing Brian Gionta said.

Montreal had a solid 24-11-6 record as the host last year and this is the first time the Habs will host the Flames in a home opener.

Calgary has taken four of five and five of the last eight meetings with the Canadiens, but the Flames have dropped five of their last six in Montreal.