CALGARY, Canada — Rene Bourque scored two goals and the Calgary Flames defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-0 in the National Hockey League's Heritage Classic outdoor game.
In sub-freezing temperatures on Sunday, before a crowd of 41,022 at the home stadium of Canadian football's Calgary Stampeders, the hometown Flames fired 19 shots at Montreal goaltender Carey Price in the first period.
"That was a lot of fun for us. It's a big win," Bourque said. "It's great to see 40,000 fans in the stands. To win makes it extra special."
Calgary netminder Miikka Kiprusoff of Finland made 39 saves, stopping 21 Montreal shots in the second period alone, for the NHL's first outdoor shutout. It was Kiprusoff's 38th career shutout and fourth of the season.
"It was a pretty unbelievable game," Kiprusoff said. "It was too cold. The first period I felt terrible. I'm glad they started shooting more in the second. It got me warmed up and I felt more comfortable."
Bourque put Calgary on top with a power-play goal 8:09 into the opening period off a pass from Alex Tanguay.
Ukranian Anton Babchuk made it 2-0 for the Flames with a short-handed goal 12:44 into the second period and Canada's Bourque followed with his second goal just 2:02 later to put Calgary ahead 3-0 entering the final period.
Tanguay added a power-play goal with 9:07 remaining in the third period for the Flames, who for the 31st time in 61 games to reach 70 points and stand sixth in the Western Conference.
The game was the NHL's second regular season outdoor matchup staged in Canada, the first having been the league's inaugural outdoor game at Edmonton in 2003. Four other outdoor games have been held in the United States.
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