Montoya, Canadiens blank Penguins
MONTREAL -- David Desharnais scored twice, and Al Montoya was sharp in goal to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Montoya, making his third consecutive start while starter Carey Price recovers from illness, made 36 saves in earning his sixth career shutout and first with the Canadiens.
Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov also scored for Montreal (2-0-1), which earned the 3,300th win in the franchise's NHL history.
Marc-Andre Fleury, making his second start in as many nights, stopped 28 shots as the Penguins (2-1-1) lost for the first time in regulation.
Pacioretty got the crowd roaring just 23 seconds into the first period. Jeff Petry found the left winger in the high slot, and Pacioretty skated just inside the left circle before sniping home his first of the season. The goal set a team record for fastest goal in a Canadiens home opener, breaking Bobby Rousseau's previous best of 25 seconds, set in 1964-65.
Desharnais doubled Montreal's lead at 12:07 of the second period. Pacioretty picked up a loose puck after Andrew Shaw forced a turnover on the forecheck and sent a no-look backhand pass to Desharnais, who was left all alone in front of Fleury.
Radulov brought about chants of "Radu! Radu! Radu!" from the crowd on a Canadiens power play at 4:31 of third period. Alex Galchenyuk sent a perfect feed through the neutral zone to Radulov, who skated into the Penguins' end, outwaited the Pittsburgh defenseman who dropped to the ice to block the shot, and then skated over to the left circle before firing it past Fleury.
Desharnais picked up his second of the night at 13:44 of the third after Fleury stopped several shots in close. Andrei Markov found Petry along the right boards, and the Canadiens defenseman then quickly sent it off to Desharnais on the left edge of the crease.
NOTES: Penguins RW Bryan Rust returned to the lineup after missing his team's first three games with injury. ... After sitting the first two games as a healthy scratch, Montreal C/W Brian Flynn made his season debut, while rookie D Mikhail Sergachev returned to the lineup after being scratched on Saturday night. ... LW Daniel Carr, D Greg Pateryn and D Zach Redmond were scratched for the Canadiens. ... Pittsburgh scratched C Sidney Crosby (concussion), LW Tom Sestito and D Derrick Pouliot. ... Seven Habs players skated in their first home opener at the Bell Centre: Sergachev, D Shea Weber, RW Alexander Radulov, RW Andrew Shaw, rookie LW Artturi Lehkonen and LW Phillip Danault.