In Calgary, Cole Caufield‘s power play goal in the third period helped the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 win over the Flames on Thursday night.
Jake Allen made 45 saves in the Habs win.
“Gutsy win, obviously. It wasn’t pretty,” Allen said. “They’re a really good hockey club. But we had a lot of blocked shots, guys sacrificed a lot, our PK was pretty solid tonight all around structurally I thought from my vantage point. It’s one of those games you find ways to win. It’s a good building block here.”
Montreal improved to 12-10-1.
Sean Monahan assisted on both Montreal goals in his return to Calgary.
“It was special,” Monahan said. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while and it’s finally here. You get a lot of emotions coming up into the game. Once I stepped on the ice in warmup, I was pretty nervous to be honest. I was the most nervous I’ve been for a long time. I’m just happy we came out with a win. It was fun.”
Elias Lindholm was the lone striker for the Flames, his goal tied the game, 1-1, in the middle frame.
“It’s tough,” said Lindholm, who ended a seven-game goal drought. “We tried hard in the third and I think we can still do a better job with traffic. I think their goalie saw a lot of pucks. We’ve just got to bear down more.”
Juraj Slafkovsky also scored for Montreal.
“The whole locker room knew he’s coming back home, because he was here nine years,” Slafkovsky said. “Still, we wanted to win and that was something special about this win for ‘Mony’ and coming back here. He got a big standing ovation. That was great for him. At the end of the game there’s nothing better than a close game and a win.”
Calgary dropped to 10-10-3.
Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves in the Flames loss.
“The guys did a great job and, once again, I’ve got to be better,” Markstrom said. “I [stink] right now, so I’ve got to step up. We’re playing good hockey and not letting many scoring chances in, but we can’t start behind every game.”
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