Josh Leivo equaled a career high with a pair of goals to lead the host Calgary Flames to a 2-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night in their first game with new head coach Darryl Sutter behind the bench.

Derek Ryan and Sam Bennett assisted both of Leivo's tallies to earn two-point games, while goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves for the Flames, who staked him to a two-goal edge and hung on for the win.

The 18 shots allowed by Calgary is a season low, indicative of the expectations Sutter has of his team's defensive play.

Markstrom had a relatively light night compared to his counterpart, but did come up with clutch stops when they were needed, among them against Tomas Tatar late in the first period while the Flames were short-handed and against Joel Armia shortly after it became a one-goal affair in the third period.

Jake Allen stopped 27 shots for the Canadiens, who suffered a road loss in regulation for only the second time this season.

The clubs square off again Saturday night in Calgary. The Flames have won two of three meetings this season.

After a scoreless opening frame, Leivo opened the scoring 112 seconds into the second period. Taking advantage of a Montreal turnover, the Flames rushed up ice and the play ended when Leivo completed an easy tap-in from the doorstep set up by Ryan.

Leivo, who failed to score in his first 18 games of the season and was in and out of the lineup over the last month amidst his struggles, netted his second of the game, and third of the season, with 6:05 left in the middle frame. Shea Weber's breakout pass was intercepted and when the puck came to him in the slot, Leivo buried the chance.

Corey Perry scored for the second consecutive game to put the Canadiens on the board midway through the third period and make it a one-goal game. Weber sent a point shot that Perry deflected for his fifth goal of the season, but the visitors couldn't find the game-tying tally.

The Canadiens were without top-pairing defenseman Ben Chiarot due to a fractured right hand suffered Wednesday night in Vancouver. Victor Mete stepped into the lineup in his place.

--Field Level Media