The New Year’s Eve Special in the Saddledome featuring the Flames and Montreal Canadiens hasn’t happen since 2002.

  But when the Canadiens skate on the ice here on Tuesday it will be their earliest ever regular-season appearance in Calgary.

  Both the Flames and Canadiens have perfect 2-0 records.  Flames won twice in regulation time.  Canadiens won two in overtime.

  However, there is one common thread.  Both clubs have gotten outstanding goaltending.

  Carey Price, who trains during the summer in Calgary, eager to win back the fans in Montreal, has been brilliant in his two starts on the road as the Canadiens were outshot,81-44.

  Miikka Kiprusoff, who training in Finland with a personal trainer this summer for the first time, has faced 76 shots in two contests while his teammates have taken 44 shots at opposing netminders.

   It just seemed like yesterday that Mike Cammalleri was ending Jarome Iginla’s 7-year reign as Flames goal scoring leader and now he’s back in town to meet his old team.

  Cammalleri parlayed his 39-goal campaign here to a 5-year, $30M contract with the Canadiens as an unrestricted free agent.

  Both Cammalleri and Iginla are looking for their first goals of this season. 

  For those wondering, Iginla got his first goal last season in game 3.

  The only other time the Canadiens played in Calgary in Oct. was on the 11th in 1999. Habs won that game 3-1.

  Who would have predicted the Flames would have a 2-0 record to start the season without a goal from Jarome Iginla, Ollie Jokinen or Daymond Langkow?

  Who would have thought a perfect Flame opening weekend having Ray Bourque led the team in scoring with 3 points while David Moss, Mark Giordano, Curtis Glencross, Nigel Dawes, Craig Conroy, Dion Phaneuf and Jay Bouwmeester all tied with 2 points each?

  That’s the way it stands heading into this week’s 3 games in  4 nights starting Tuesday against another 2-0 team, Montreal Canadiens.

  Saturday’s thrilling 4-3 conquest in Edmonton gave the Flames their 2-0 start since 2001 and marked just the 5th time in club history they’ve captured the first 2 games of a season.

  When Nikolai Khabublin wiffed on his attempt to clear the puck in the final minute allowing Moss to score the winner on his second goal of the evening it brought memories of 2004. If Khabublin had blunders like that in game 6 or 7 of the Stanley Cup final, it would have been the Flames capturing the Cup rather than Tampa. 

  Speaking of goaltenders.  The Flames’ Miikka Kiprusoff is the big reason why the Flames have started with successive wins. He’s faced 76 shots in the first two games making numerous outstanding saves.  However, the huge number of shots against has to be a concern of coach Brent Sutter.  The commitment to fewer shots and goals against has not materialized in the early going. 

  However, the power play has produced 2 goals in each game and is #1 in the NHL scoring 4 times in 6 opportunities. 

  …And this is without goal input from the club’s 3 most reliable scorers.

  Tuesday, against Canadiens, attempt to win their first 3 games of the season for the first time in 16 years. 

  Over the past four NHL season Miikka Kiprusoff has won more games than any other goalie.

  Now he’s ahead of his winning pace from any of those 4 campaigns.

  The 32-year-old Finn was the big reason why the Flames for the first time in 7 years captured the first game of the season, downing Vancouver, 5-3.

  Kiprusoff made 39 saves,  20 in the 3rd period, to win his initial game for the first time in his 5th try.  In each of the past 2 seasons the Flames and Kiprusoff didn’t win until the 3rd game.

  With 168 wins in the past four seasons, Kipper’s solid opening performance was good news for the Flames, who have constantly watched the standout netminder start poorly.

  Canuck goalie Roberto Luongo also is a slow starter and it was that way Thursday. He allowed goals on  3 of his first 7 shots.

  Lesser lights contributed 3 of the Flame 5 goals. Marc Giordano, Brandon Prust and Adam Pardy, who rarely score, each tallied once.  Rene Bourque, who scored 21 goals last season without a PPG, scored one of the 2 Flame PP markers.  Dion Phaneuf potted the ENG at the end.

  Giordano became the first Flame defenseman to score the teams first goal of the season in 17 years..

  After the Flames built up a 3-0 first period lead with a dominant performance, the Canucks came back with 2 goals in the 2nd period and added another early in the third before Kiprusoff slammed the door the rest of the way.

  Game 2 is in Edmonton on Saturday.