Chiarot scores OT winner for Canadiens in win over Flames

CALGARY — Ben Chiarot's night in Calgary included a puck in the face, stitches and two goals, including the overtime winner, for the Montreal Canadiens in a 5-4 victory over the host Flames on Thursday.

The Canadiens dug out of a 3-1 deficit in the second period and foiled the Flames in their bid to set a franchise record of 12 consecutive home wins at the Saddledome.

Chiarot scored his second of the game at 1:03 of OT, tapping in a Rem Pitlick feed.

"That's a big one, beating a team like that," Chiarot said. "They're at the top of the standings and you can see why.

"That's a big one for the confidence of the team, knowing we can play with anybody."

Mike Hoffman had a goal and three assists for Montreal (14-34-7) at the bottom of the Atlantic Division.

Nick Suzuki had a goal and two assists and defenceman Jeff Petry also scored for the Canadiens.

Andrew Hammond contributed 30 saves for the win in his fourth career start for the Habs.

The Canadiens improved to 6-4 since head coach Martin St. Louis replaced Dominique Ducharme on Feb. 9.

"Marty comes in and he gets the guys motivated to play," Chiarot said. "Every meeting grabs your attention and it's meaningful and it just gets the guys engaged.

"Marty has been a big factor in just the whole mood of the room changing."

Chiarot went to the bench after a puck hit his chin in the second period.

"They glued it to stop the bleeding and then did stitches after the game," the defenceman said.

Andrew Mangiapane had a goal and two assists for Calgary (32-14-7), which is atop the Pacific Division.

Blake Coleman, Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm also scored for the Flames, whose 11 straight home wins equalled the record set during the 2015-16 season.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 30