(Calgary) Mikael Backlund deflected a shot at 16:23 in the first period and the Calgary Flames concluded the first period with a 1-0 lead over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.
The Flames captain took advantage of a numerical advantage after Kaiden Guhle was punished for hooking.
Backlund deflected a MacKenzie Weegar point shot for a 14e goal this season.
He is only one goal away from reaching 200 in the National League.
From the second minute of the match, Cayden Primeau stood up in front of a breakaway Blake Coleman.
Coleman took advantage of a turnover caused by a blunder by Cole Caufield.
In the fifth minute, Arber Xhekaj hit the post to the left of Dustin Wolf, with a shot from the slot.
In the middle of the period, a short-range shot from Andrei Kuzmenko narrowly missed, to the left of the CH net.
Shortly after, visiting captain Nick Suzuki held the puck before firing an inaccurate shot during a two-on-one with Caufield.
The Habs finished the first third with a power play, but the only slightly threatening shot came from afar, from Juraj Slafkovsky.
Primeau made eight saves, while Wolf stopped 15 shots.
Martin St-Louis being absent for family reasons, the CH is led Saturday evening by assistant Trevor Letowski.
The Habs announced the news regarding St-Louis early in the evening.
The Canadian begins a five-game trip that will also take him to Edmonton, Vancouver, Seattle and Denver.
The Bleu-Blanc-Rouge will face the Oilers on Tuesday evening.
Caufield hasn’t threaded the needle since Feb. 15, when he scored a double at Madison Square Garden. He has been involved in seven nets since that time.
On November 14, the Flames defeated the Canadian 2-1 at the Bell Centre.
Calgary has been beaten three times in four games.
Ryan Huska’s lineup is in the midst of a four-game homestand.
Jonathan Huberdeau has four assists in six games.
Yegor Sharanovich is having an excellent month of March with seven goals and three assists at this point.