Canadiens 3, Blues 0
MONTREAL -- Strong goaltending and timely offense propelled the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-0 win over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Goaltender Carey Price stopped all 38 shots he faced for the Canadiens (7-0-0) while his counterpart, goalie Jake Allen made 33 saves for St. Louis (5-2-0).
Trailing only Montreal in the NHL standings entering the game, the Blues took it to the home team in the opening period, outshooting the Canadiens 17-10.
But, for the sixth time in seven games this season, the Canadiens got on the board first. Right winger Brendan Gallagher came out with the puck along the left wall and dished off to center Tomas Plekanec inside the blue line. Plekanec skated to the top of the right circle and banked the puck in off Pacioretty, battling with defenseman Alex Pietrangelo in front of Allen, at 18:27.
Montreal doubled its lead at 4:52 of the second. Center Alex Galchenyuk showed patience between the blue line and circles before dishing off to Alexander Semin. Semin, with his back to the goal, spun around and fired a wrister from outside the right circle for his first of the season.
The Blues thought they cut the deficit in half a few minutes later on the power play when defenseman Jay Bouwmeester sent the puck in from the neutral zone. Price left his net to play it from the back boards, only to see the puck wind up in the net.
It was immediately waved off, with the referee noting the puck had hit the curved stanchion at the end of the St. Louis bench, ending the play.
Mitchell made it 3-0 at 11:53 of the third period. With the faceoff in the Blues' end following an icing, Mitchell won the draw. Right winger Devante Smith-Pelly got the puck over to defenseman P.K. Subban at the point and the Montreal blueliner fired a shot that turned into a juicy rebound in the slot, and Mitchell was there to pounce.
NOTES: St. Louis C Paul Stastny missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. C Robby Fabbri (concussion) and D Kevin Shattenkirk (lower body) were sidelined for a fifth and fourth game, respectively. ... Blues D Chris Butler was a healthy scratch. ... Montreal used the same lineup for the seventh straight game, scratching LW Paul Byron, D Greg Pateryn and D Jarred Tinordi. ... Canadiens C Alex Galchenyuk suited up for his 200th NHL game. ... Montreal D Andrei Markov appeared in his 853rd NHL game, tying Jacques Lemaire for 15th on the team's career list. ... St. Louis G Jake Allen spent nearly two years of his junior career playing in Montreal with the QMJHL's Juniors.