DeBrincat scores first NHL goal in Blackhawks' win

MONTREAL -- Alex DeBrincat scored his first NHL goal in the first period, Brandon Saad scored 19 seconds later, and the Chicago Blackhawks spoiled the Montreal Canadiens' home opener with a 3-1 win at Bell Centre on Tuesday.
Artem Anisimov scored in the second period and Corey Crawford made 41 saves for Chicago (3-0-1), which lost 4-3 in overtime at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.

WATCH: [All Blackhawks vs. Canadiens highlights]
"We're lucky it was 1-0 for as long as it was," Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "That gave us some hope, knowing if we could come out of that period, and then we scored two quick ones. So we were fortunate, with the score being the way it is, I thought things settled down in the second and third."
Tomas Plekanec scored and Carey Price made 22 saves for Montreal (1-3-0), which lost its third in a row despite outshooting the Blackhawks 42-25, including 16-7 in the first period.
"Obviously things aren't going perfect right now," Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty said. "It's been three games now where we can't figure a way to put it in the net, but that's hockey and the only thing we can work on is our attitude and our approach to scoring goals on Saturday [against Toronto]."

DeBrincat tied it at 1-1 at 17:53.
"Obviously you want to score your first goal, but I knew it wasn't going to be easy," DeBrincat said. "So I was just trying to keep it out of my mind and it had to come sooner or later, so that's kind of the way I went about it."
Saad finished off a passing play with linemates Richard Panik and Jonathan Toews for his fifth goal in four games to give Chicago a 2-1 lead at 18:12.
Saad (five goals, two assists), Panik (three goals, three assists) and Toews (two goals, three assists) each have four-game point streaks.

DeBrincat got his second point of the game with an assist on Anisimov's power-play goal, which put the Blackhawks ahead 3-1 at 10:44 of the second.
Plekanec gave the Canadiens their first lead in four games at 1:15 of the first period. He intercepted a backhand pass by Blackhawks right wing Ryan Hartman and scored unassisted for his first goal on Montreal's first of 14 straight shots.
"They came out flying and we didn't get rattled and scored some big goals, some nice plays offensively on our goals, a couple of tic-tac-toes there," Crawford said. "We just showed poise and we just kept making plays."

Goal of the game

Patrick Sharp recovered the puck after Montreal defenseman Jordie Benn's clearing attempt struck a linesman and passed to DeBrincat, who one-timed a slap shot past Price from the left side of the high slot. "It's pretty cool," DeBrincat said. "He's a great goalie, obviously, and I was lucky enough to get one past him."

Save of the game

Crawford made a pad save on Paul Byron's shot on a shorthanded breakaway at 10:19 of the second period keep Chicago ahead 2-1.

Highlight of the game

Blackhawks defenseman Cody Franson made a cross-ice pass from the left point to DeBrincat, who immediately set up Anisimov to score from the goalmouth with a quick pass from the right circle.

They said it

"He's always talking to me, always trying to give me advice on where to be and how to play at this level, so he's been a big help to me." -- 19-year-old Blackhawks rookie Alex DeBrincat about playing with Sharp, who's in his 15th NHL season
"It was awesome. Obviously, we'd love to get the win and feel better, but it was special to be a part of. For me, to be from around this area and to live this as a player, it was very cool and something I'll remember for a while." -- Center Jonathan Drouin, making his Canadiens home debut, about the pregame ceremony

Need to know

The Canadiens went 0-for-5 on the power play and have yet to score through their first 14 opportunities. ... Chicago has scored 21 goals in its first four games.

What's next

Blackhawks: Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCH, FS-N, NHL.TV)
Canadiens:Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, TVA Sports, NHLN-US, NHL.TV)