Petry, Tatar help Canadiens defeat Oilers for first win

EDMONTON --Jeff Petry and Tomas Tatar each scored two goals, and the Montreal Canadiens got their first win of the season, 5-1 against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Place on Saturday.

Carey Price made 34 saves, and Phillip Danault and Brendan Gallagher each had two assists for Montreal (1-0-1).
"I think we stuck to our plan the whole game," Petry said. "Where we got in trouble [in a 5-4 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday] at the start of the second period, we got sloppy with the puck, and I think we managed the puck well tonight and our forwards did a good job staying above their forwards, and that allowed us to have good [defensive] gaps."
Mikko Koskinen made 31 saves in his third consecutive start to open the season, and Slater Koekkoek scored his first goal for Edmonton (1-2-0).
"I thought there were ebbs and flows in the game," Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. "I thought the first five minutes or so we started all right. They got the opening goal and they took over the rest of the first period. We had some chances around it but once we got chasing the game, we got loose; you're chasing the game and trying to get back in it. We made some mistakes that allowed them to expand the lead, and we chased it the rest of the way."

Petry scored on the power play at 6:50 of the first period to give Montreal a 1-0 lead. He knocked down his rebound behind the right post, skated around the back of the net to the other side, and got to the puck after it went across the crease.
Price stopped Connor McDavid on a breakaway with 2:49 left in the period to keep the Canadiens ahead.
"It was just kind of a reaction," Price said. "He came in with a lot of speed and I was able to close the holes."
Tatar made it 2-0 at 2:19 of the second period from the right face-off circle on the rush.
Petry extended the lead to 3-0 at 7:27. His shot from along the right boards was steered away by Koskinen, but the puck hit Oilers defenseman Ethan Bear in the back of the leg and bounced in as he battled for position with Tatar at the top of the crease.
"When the puck comes around the net, everyone is shifting from the other side," Petry said. "I saw [Tatar] there in front and was just trying to get the puck to the net, whether it just goes off a skate or a deflection from [Tatar], I was just trying to get the puck to the net, get it in the chaos."

Jake Evans scored shorthanded on a 2-on-1 at 9:17 to make it 4-0. Evans broke out with Paul Byron, shot and scored on his own rebound.
Tatar scored on a breakaway at 9:47 of the third period for a 5-0 lead.
"They were definitely quicker than us. Playing three games in 3 1/2 days is a lot coming out the gate," McDavid said of the Oilers, who split home games with the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday and Thursday. "But not making any excuses for ourselves, we have to be better, we have to win more battles. They were the more rested team and they showed that, but I don't think our battle level was good enough."
Koekkoek ended the shutout at 12:59, scoring from the left circle on his blocked shot for the 5-1 final.
"It could have been a different game if we don't have him back there," Gallagher said of Price, who has 48 NHL shutouts but none against Edmonton in 14 games. "Fortunately enough, we have a great one between the pipes to make those saves. He's so calm and so cool he allows you to keep momentum on your side, and we're pretty fortunate to play in front of him every single night."
The teams play again here Monday in the third of six straight road games for Montreal to start the season.
"We park this win," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "We take the two points because they're important, but we have to realize we'll have a tougher opponent in two days from now."