Ritchie, Monahan help Flames down Montreal, 3-2, in OT

In Montreal Thursday, the Calgary Flames’ Sean Monahan had two goals in their match with the Canadiens and the second was the big one as he potted the game-winner in overtime for a 3-2 win.

Monahan went low before taking a pass to score the winner.

“You can’t give him that much time in the slot,” Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan said. “He’s so lethal there.”

Garnet Hathaway also scored in regulation for Calgary; it was his first strike of the season.

“[Gulutzan] had a lot of faith in us,” Hathaway said. “He watched it a couple of times and he was fully prepared to challenge it. He thought it was a good goal. That was nice for us and it turned out well. I thought it was a goal. It’s a hard play to read when you’re on the ice.”

The Habs, who had a five-game win streak snapped, had goals from Daniel Carr and Phillip Danault.

“We were surprised they had such good legs in the third period,” Danault said. “They worked hard, and they played with desperate energy.”

David Rittich, who was recalled from the Stockton Heat of the AHL, made 35 saves to collect the win.

“We know we needed these two points because we lost a couple of points in the home games, but I think we did a very good job here,” Rittich said.

Gulutzan had praise for his goalie after the win in a tough building against a hot team.

“That kid is a fantastic kid. He’s a battler and that’s what you need in these back-to-backs. I’m really happy for him. We did a good job, but he made some big saves,” Gulutzan  said. “A guy puts in that much work, you’re happy for him.”

[WATCH: All Flames vs. Canadiens highlights]

Carey Price made 34 saves in taking the loss.

“I thought we played a pretty good game tonight,” Price said. “We did a lot of good things, but that team over there was resilient. Their goaltender played well for them and they found a way to win.”

Montreal dropped to 13-13-4 with the loss.

“We lost a lot of battles along the wall, around our net area, and that’s what caused the second goal,” Habs head coach Claude Julien said after the loss. “This is what we’ve got to get better at. It’s an ongoing thing with our team, to get better in those areas, and for a lot of practices we keep working on that.”

Leave a Comment