The Canadiens couldn’t have asked for a better debut from backup goaltender Jake Allen.
Allen, who was acquired from St. Louis during the off-season to take some of the workload off Carey Price, made 25 saves Monday night to lead the Canadiens to a 3-1 win over the Oilers at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
The victory gave the Canadiens a sweep of the two-game series against the Oilers, after they won 5-1 Saturday behind a 34-save performance by Price.
The Montreal penalty-kill was the difference as the Canadiens escaped from the first period with a 1-0 lead.
The Canadiens took the only three penalties of the period and Edmonton enjoyed a 5-on-3 advantage for a total of 32 seconds. But the Oilers’ power play, which ranked No. 1 in the NHL last season, managed only two shots on goal and neither one came with the two-man advantage.
It would prove to be a disappointing night for the Edmonton power play. They not only went 0-for-7 with eight shots on goal, but any hopes of a comeback ended when Artturi Lehkonen scored a short-handed goal in the third period.
Rookie defenceman Alexander Romanov opened the scoring when he beat Mikko Koskinen with a shot from the blue-line at 9:54. It was the first NHL goal for the Russian, who scored only one goal in 86 KHL games before joining the Canadiens.
Brett Kulak and Paul Byron received assists on Romanov’s goal, but the play was set in motion when rookie Jake Evans won the faceoff against Alex Chiasson in the Oilers’ zone.
There was another scare involving Josh Anderson, who was Marc Bergevin’s prime acquisition during off-season. Anderson was held out for the final five minutes of Saturdays game in Edmonton after he fell awkwardly in the boards while trying to make a check. On Monday, the power forward looked uncomfortable as he went to the dressing room after playing three shifts. He returned to the ice late in the first period and played the rest of the game.
The Canadiens picked up the pace in the second period as they outshot the Oilers 18-7, but it took a coach’s challenge to provide Montreal with a 2-0 lead with 11 seconds remaining in the period.
Koskinen made a stop on Shea Weber during a power play, but the Montreal defenceman picked up his own rebound, went behind the net and banked a shot off the back of Koskinen’s head. Referee Chris Schlenker immediately waved off the goal, ruling that Jeff Petry had interfered with Koskinen.
Canadiens head coach Claude Julien issued a challenge and the replay showed a different story. Edmonton’s Devin Shore pushed Petry from behind, but the Montreal player managed to peel off to the right of the goal while Shore’s momentum carried him to the net and he upended Koskinen. It was the Canadiens’ lone goal in five opportunities on the night.
Shore ended Allen’s shutout bid late in the third period when he took advantage of a turnover at the Montreal blue-line and scored on a breakaway with 2:09 left in the game.
The Canadiens have a 2-0-1 record as they continue their season-opening road trip with three games in Vancouver. They have back-to-back games against the Canucks Wednesday and Thursday and wrap up the trip on Saturday.
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