Montreal add to Oilers woes

Jake Allen got the start for the Montreal Canadiens in Edmonton on Monday night and made 25 saves in a 3-1 win over the Oilers.

“I was really looking forward to playing my first game with the Canadiens logo on my chest,” Allen said. “To get a win is huge. The guys played great these two games, and we’ll carry it over to Vancouver.”

The Habs outscored the Oilers 8-2 in the two-game set.

“We were more competitive, but I’d still like to see our puck game improve,” Edmonton head coach Dave Tippett said. “Competitive is what we’re looking for. To defend better, you’ve got to be competitive first, then you’ve got to be able to move the puck. We were better on the competitive end of it.”

Alexander Romanov notched his first NHL goal i the win.

“When we came here, we knew the only chance we had of winning here in Edmonton was to make sure those guys were not an impact on the game,” Montreal head coach Claude Julien said. “We didn’t necessarily decide to sit on top of those guys, but we did a good job of getting on them quick, getting some good angles, and getting in their way and slowing them down. They had some great chances on those power plays, and our goaltender came up big, so there’s a lot of things as a team we did well against them, and the reason we’re coming out of here with four points is that we’re really able to nullify their one-two punch that can win games for them.”

Devin Shore was the lone goal scorer for the Oilers on a shorthanded effort.

“I thought we actually came out and played a decent first period,” the Oilers’ Kyle Turris said. “We had energy, we were getting pucks deep and getting after them. I thought we came out and played real well. And then in the second period, we just kind of stepped back and let them take it to us, which we obviously can’t let happen.”Shea Weber and Artturi Lehkonen  (shorthanded) also scored for the Canadiens.

Mikko Koskinen made 31 saves in the loss.

“We were moving it around pretty well and getting some good looks, but when teams are pressuring you like that and things aren’t clicking, maybe we need to shoot the puck more, get rebounds and create chaos,” the Oilers’ Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “… It was one of those games that was frustrating. The power play had tons of looks and just couldn’t find one.”