OTTAWA -- In front of a 25-year-old rookie making his NHL debut, the Montreal Canadiens felt comfortable enough to play the same way they do with defending Vezina Trophy winner Carey Price between their pipes.

That says a lot for goalie Mike Condon.

"A lot of times when the backup goes in there, you see (the team) changing, and we didn't change anything," Canadiens defensemen P.K. Subban said after Condon stopped 20 shots in a 3-1 victory at Canadian Tire Centre that spoiled the Ottawa Senators' home opener Sunday night.

"Guys felt confident with him in there. He established early that he was ready and he was sharp. Listen, I've got to give him credit. He went in there and did exactly what he had to do. We get that from Carey every night. What Carey brings, we got that from him tonight."

Center Tomas Plekanec led the Canadiens (3-0-0) with a pair of goals, while center Torrey Mitchell had the other. Center Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for the Senators (2-1-0).

"He was unbelievable," Plekanec said of Condon. "Every time there was a shot on him, he was so sure about it. He was perfect. A great game by him."

Condon called his debut exciting.

"I thought the guys played an awesome game," he said. "I think we only had 15 shots against going into the third period, only maybe five or six scoring chances. They made my workload very light."

Like Montreal, the Senators rested their No. 1 goalie, as Craig Anderson gave way to Matt O'Connor. Not only was O'Connor also making his NHL debut, but it was his first game as a pro.

He looked shaky on Plekanec's first goal, a shot from the right-wing boards behind the goal line that went in off his pad, but he settled down to make 31 saves.

However, the Senators never could recover from a 2-0, first-period deficit.

"I felt better as the game went on," O'Connor said. "Obviously, I wanted a win. ... It was a bit of a goalie duel, I guess, with Condon getting his first NHL game as well. I guess we couldn't really climb back from that first period.

"I guess there's some stuff to work on, but overall I felt pretty comfortable, and I felt like I made a good effort."

While neither team scored a power-play goal, Montreal had seven chances with the man advantage, while Ottawa had just four. the Senators didn't agree with the disparity.

"I think it was a scrambly game from both teams," Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson said. "They caught the breaks they needed, and unfortunately we didn't. We couldn't really get any traction going. As you saw, it's not like we got any help from anyone, either.

"Some of them are clearly penalties, but unfortunately some are not, in my opinion. There's nothing you can do about that. We didn't bring our best game today. We lost because we weren't playing the way we needed to do."

While Pageau's second-period short-handed goal brought the Senators close, the gap widened again when Mitchell deflected a Subban shot through a crowd 5:41 into the third.

Condon made two big saves off Karlsson in the last minute, with O'Connor on the bench for an extra attacker. On one of them, Condon lost his stick and was using Subban's as a replacement.

"Yeah, that wasn't exactly textbook," Condon said. "I think Subby is supposed to hang onto his stick in that situation. I was very, very lucky. (Karlsson) had the whole side of the net open, so lucky he shot it back into me.

"A lot of energy going into the game, but after that first shot comes, all the interior monologue just quiets down and all your training takes over. After the first shot, I was just having some fun."

As far as Senators coach Dave Cameron was concerned, his team didn't play with enough energy.

"We weren't hard enough on pucks, right through the 12 forwards that were dressed," said Cameron. "We talk all the time about if we're going to establish ourselves as any kind of team that's tough to play against, you have to go through pucks, not around them. We didn't have enough guys going through pucks tonight.

"Montreal did a good job of choking us off, but if you don't respond by going through pucks and getting pucks to the net, it's going to be a long night. It was a long night tonight."

NOTES: Ottawa G Matt O'Connor was tabbed to spend the season with the Senators' AHL affiliate, but he broke camp with the NHL team when G Andrew Hammond sustained a groin injury. ... Montreal's Mike Condon was one of the busier goalies in the AHL last season, playing 48 games for the Hamilton Bulldogs. The undrafted 25-year-old had an impressive .921 save percentage to go along with his 23-19-6 record. ... The Senators had no lineup changes, which meant LW Shane Prince and D Chris Wideman were healthy scratches for the third straight game. ... Canadiens coach Michel Therrien decided to stick with a lineup that won its first two games, which meant C Paul Byron, an Ottawa native, did not get the chance to play in his hometown. ... The Canadiens wrap up their season-starting four-game road trip when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday. ... The Senators next game is Wednesday, when they are on the road to take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.