Game 67: Montreal Canadiens @ Calgary Flames
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: CBC, CityTV (English), TVA Sports (French)
Streaming: CBC Gem, ESPN+, Sportsnet+
Montreal put yet another good game together against an elite team on Thursday versus the Boston Bruins, and like most of those that they’ve had in the past couple of weeks, this one was tied into the late stages. The Habs haven’t been able to turn many of those performances into wins, but they did take another point for a loss after regulation as a consolation prize. It was Montreal’s 11th such point, with the last three from games versus Boston, Tampa Bay, and Florida.
There are more good teams to face — three of the top five in the Western Conference — as the Canadiens make their annual road trip to Western Canada and then return home by way of Colorado. There will be plenty more chances to measure themselves versus the teams ramping up for what they hope are long post-season runs.
Tonight’s opponent isn’t one of those teams, however. As much as the Calgary Flames have tried to remain competitive after losing Johnny Gaudreau for nothing and trading away a disgruntled Matthew Tkachuk, the replacements brought in, specifically Jonathan Huberdeau, haven’t panned out. The failed patch job cost Brad Treliving his role as general manager, and the new man in charge, Craig Conroy, spent the last several weeks holding a fire sale to begin a rebuild.
| Canadiens | Statistics | Flames |
|---|---|---|
| 25-30-11 | Record | 32-29-5 |
| 44.6% (28th) | Scoring-chances-for % | 49.4% (24th) |
| 2.73 (27th) | Goals per game | 3.12 (16th) |
| 3.41 (26th) | Goals against per game | 3.17 (20th) |
| 18.7% (23rd) | PP% | 14.1% (31st) |
| 76.0% (26th) | PK% | 83.8% (4th) |
| 0-1-0 | Head-to-Head Record | 1-0-0 |
Out have gone Elias Lindholm to the division rival Vancouver Canucks, Noah Hanifin to the division rival Vegas Golden Knights, and Chris Tanev to the Dallas Stars. Jacob Markstrom isn’t happy with how the team handled a potential trade to the New Jersey Devils, who ultimately opted to add Jake Allen instead, and you have to think that he will be another veteran player on the way out this off-season. The dominoes may continue to fall with the 33-year-old Nazem Kadri and 32-year-old Blake Coleman, who rank one and two on Calgary’s scoring list, seeking better opportunities in the latter parts of their careers.
You can compare that exodus of experience with what is happening in Montreal. Knowing full well that defence is the strength of the organizational depth with the best talent still on the way, David Savard was adamant about staying with the team to see where this upward trajectory takes it. There’s even a suggestion that Sean Monahan, dealt away for a first-round pick, could re-sign with the Habs for next season. With so many young players in starring roles already, you have to believe Savard is far from the only veteran NHL player who would like to be a part of that.
Calgary hopes it has something similar starting to form. Connor Zary is an exciting young forward, and Jakob Pelletier has a great deal of potential as well. The team doesn’t have the quality or quantity on defence that Montreal has, but there are some good prospects in the system, and goaltender Dustin Wolf is on track to eventually replace Markstrom in net.
The Flames are led in goals (28) by the 25-year-old Yegor Sharangovich, one of their trade returns (for Tyler Toffoli) that has worked out for them. However, the two-year extension that Conroy signed the forward to takes him right to unrestricted free agency. The organization has seen many players wanting to leave town in recent years, but if they want to start building properly rather than going through an endless cycle of shuffling talent through, the direction will have to be clear enough to encourage a budding offensive star to ride out the storm.
