Calgary, AB (SportsNetwork.com) - Sean Monahan tallied a goal and an assist as the Calgary Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at Scotiabank Saddledome.
The rookie opened up the scoring for the Flames a little less than 10 minutes into the game. Travis Moen coughed up the puck in the neutral zone to Monahan, who advanced into Montreal's zone and dished a backhand pass over to Lee Stempniak. Stempniak fired a shot off goaltender Carey Price and Monahan was there to tap the rebound into the back of the net.
"(Monahan) is having fun, he is bringing passion, he is bringing excitement and he's learning. He is a pretty special kid," Flames head coach Bob Hartley said of the 18-year-old rookie.
Joey MacDonald stopped 33-of-35 Montreal shots to ensure the victory for the Flames, who continued their home dominance against the Canadiens with a seventh straight win in Calgary.
P.K. Subban scored a goal and assisted on Lars Eller's third period goal, while Price made 22 saves on 25 shots as the Canadiens lost their second game of the season.
Jiri Hudler threw a hit on Jarred Tinordi behind the net to knock the puck loose. Monahan took the puck and threw it across the goalmouth to Sven Baertschi, who tapped it into a wide open net for an easy goal with less than two minutes remaining in the first.
Dennis Wideman threw a wrist shot on net and Curtis Glencross, who was camped out in front of Price, tipped the puck out of midair to give the Flames a 3-0 lead in the second.
Subban would respond for the Habs less than two minutes later. The reigning Norris Trophy winner blasted a rocket cleanly past MacDonald from the point on the power play.
Eller brought the game within one with a little less than 10 minutes to go in the third. Subban's shot from the blue line missed the net and bounced off the boards straight to a waiting Eller, who did not hesitate to bury the puck into the back of the net.
Subban was guilty of three cross checks on Lance Bouma before the referee blew his whistle for a penalty with 1:49 left to go in the game virtually ending Montreal's hopes of a comeback.
"We didn't react well to the two mistakes we made in the first period, and it's one of those things where we took some penalties in the third period and we shouldn't have taken those type of penalties," Montreal head coach Michel Therrien said.
Game Notes
Renee Bourque played his 500th NHL regular season game ... Max Pacioretty returned to the lineup after missing the previous game with a wrist injury ... Calgary has outscored their opponents 8-3 in the first period this season ... Monahan scored his third goal of the season in only his fourth career game and has picked up a point in every game.
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