Calgary Flames' Sean Monahan is congratulated by teammates Dougie Hamilton, centre, and Johnny Gaudreau, right, following a goal past Montreal Canadiens goalie Mike Condon during second period NHL hockey action Sunday, March 20, 2016 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
March 20, 2016 - 6:42 PM
MONTREAL - Sean Monahan scored twice and set up another as the Calgary Flames downed the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 on Sunday night.
Joe Colborne and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for the Flames (31-35-6), who have points in four straight games. Calgary plays in Toronto on Monday night.
Michael McCarron scored his first NHL goal for Montreal (33-34-6), which has lost four of its last five.
The Canadiens, coming off a 5-0 loss Saturday night in Ottawa, mustered only 22 shots on Niklas Backstrom, who was making his first start since Jan. 13, 2015. In fact, one of Montreal's best chances came when Flames defenceman Mark Giordano accidentally backhanded a shot at his own net in the first period.
The Flames had 34 shots on Mike Condon.
The Flames got on the board 16:06 into the second period after Alex Galchenyuk was checked off the puck in the Calgary zone. The transition play saw Sam Bennett feed T.J. Brodie for a pass in front that was redirected by Colborne past Condon.
Nearly three minutes later, Monahan was alone at the edge of the crease to redirect a Dougie Hamilton feed in for his 25th of the season.
The teams were each down a man when Monahan fed Gaudreau on the right side for a shot that trickled through Condon's equipment at 10:38 of the third frame, and Monahan jammed one in from the side of the net on a power play at 12:21.
Opposing teams had scored 10 straight goals against Montreal until the rookie McCarron deflected a Nathan Beaulieu point shot past Backstrom at 12:57 for his first in 14 NHL games.
Notes: Both teams made an emergency call-up of a defenceman. Montreal brought in Joel Hanley for his first NHL game while announcing Victor Bartley is out with a lower-body injury. Calgary called up Tyler Wotherspoon because Deryk Engelland was with his wife while she gave birth to their second child on Sunday. . . Bennett returned after missing four games with an upper-body injury.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2016