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Ottawa, Ontario • Mike Condon got all the help he needed in his NHL debut for the Montreal Canadiens.
Condon made 20 saves, and Tomas Plekanec scored twice in the first period in the Canadiens' 3-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night.
The 25-year-old Condon allowed only Jean-Gabriel Pageau's short-handed goal midway through the second period in the Senators' home opener.
"It was exciting and I thought the guys played an awesome game," Condon said. "I think we only had 15 shots against going into the third period and then only maybe five or six scoring chances, so it made my workload very light."
The former Princeton star spent the last three seasons in the minors.
Montreal improved to 3-0-0, with star goalie Carey Price in goal for the first two games.
"[Condon] made some key saves at the right time," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "This is just something that he did through the course of the training camp and he played really well for us to get the first win is always something special for any player."
Torrey Mitchell added a goal for Montreal in the third period. Sunday's Game
Montreal 3, Ottawa 1
Monday's Games
Tampa Bay at Boston, 11 a.m.
Winnipeg at N.Y. Islanders, 11 a.m.
Columbus at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Florida at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.
Vancouver at Anaheim, 8 p.m.