MONTREAL — Nick Suzuki scored his fourth goal in five games as the Montreal Canadiens notched a 4-2 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at Bell Centre.
His power-play goal midway through the third period put Montreal (4-10-1) ahead and Jake Evans iced the win with an empty-netter.
Brendan Gallagher and Ben Chiarot also scored for the Canadiens. Montreal’s Jake Allen stopped 24 of 26 shots.
Mikael Backlund and Andrew Mangiapane had first-period goals for the Flames (7-3-3) in the opener of a six-game road trip. Calgary has dropped two in a row.
Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom saved 25 of 28 shots.
Calgary opened the scoring at 2:02 as Backlund deflected Trevor Lewis’s shot from the point.
Chiarot pulled Montreal even with his second goal in as many games. The defenceman rushed to the net and tapped in a loose puck in Markstrom’s crease.
Calgary took a 2-1 lead at 16:22 when Mangiapane accepted a cross-ice pass from Sean Monahan and notched his ninth goal of the season.
Montreal tied it up again at 11:24 of the second period. Chris Wideman hit the post with a point shot and Gallagher knocked in the rebound.
On the winner, Suzuki fooled Markstrom by shooting from behind the net. The puck hit the goalie’s skate and crossed the line for Suzuki’s fourth goal of the season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2021.
Tristan D’Amours, The Canadian Press