Game Night: Calgary Flames at Montreal Canadiens

Calgary Flames (2-2-1) at Montreal Canadiens (4-0-2)

Thursday, 5 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan

Saturday, 5 p.m. MT, CBC/Sportsnet 960 The Fan

FIVE KEYS TO THE GAME

1. ROAD RECIPE

The Canadiens started this season on a historic road roll, returning from a six-game junket with a 4-0-2 record. The 2021 Habs are just the second team in NHL lore to collect points in each of their first half-dozen dates — when all six were played in enemy territory. Thursday marks their home-opener at Bell Centre, but they certainly would be satisfied with another road effort.

2. DYNAMIC DUO

After rampant off-season speculation they could be trade-bait, or at least be separated as linemates, Flames forwards Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan are doing their darnedest to silence the critics. The best buddies connected on a pair of tallies Tuesday in Calgary’s 4-3 loss to the Maple Leafs — Gaudreau’s first two-snipe night since December 2019 — and share the team lead with seven points each.

3. TRACKING TOFFOLI

The good news is that Tyler Toffoli has never donned the Flaming C. The 28-year-old winger — signed by the Canadiens in free agency — just torched one of his former teams, racking up five goals during a three-game set against the Canucks in Vancouver. The crew from Calgary will try to cool off the NHL’s reigning first star-of-the-week.

4. POTENT POWER-PLAY

The Habs are averaging nearly five minor penalties per game and will need to be on their best behaviour against this particular foe. The Flames’ power-play has been capitalizing at a stellar clip, with eight man-advantage markers to show for their 24 opportunities. Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm lead the charge with four power-play points apiece.

5. THIS N’ THAT

The Canadiens have been idle since their 5-2 victory in Vancouver on Saturday. That night, Carey Price became the fourth active goalie to hit the 350-win plateau … Flames forward Dillon Dube remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury … The Flames have lost five straight matchups against Montreal.

Season Series (2019-20)

Montreal 2-0-0, 6 GF

Calgary 0-1-1, 3 GF

Previous scores

Dec. 19, 2019: Montreal 4, CALGARY 3 (OT)

Jan. 13, 2020: MONTREAL 2, Calgary 0

Team scoring leaders vs. opponent (2019-20)

CANADIENS vs. FLAMES

Jordan Weal 1-1-2 +2

Artturi Lehkonen 0-2-2 +2

Ben Chiarot 0-1-1 +4

FLAMES vs. CANADIENS

Elias Lindholm 1-1-2 -1

Matthew Tkachuk 1-1-2 -1

Johnny Gaudreau 0-2-2 -2

CANADIENS’ LINEUP

Forwards

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson

Tyler Toffoli – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Corey Perry

Artturi Lehkonen – Jake Evans – Paul Byron

Defence pairings

Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Alexander Romanov

Goalies

Carey Price

Jake Allen

FLAMES’ LINEUP

Forwards

Matthew Tkachuk – Elias Lindholm – Dominik Simon

Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Andrew Mangiapane

Milan Lucic – Mikael Backlund – Sam Bennett

Joakim Nordstrom – Derek Ryan – Josh Leivo

Defence pairings

Mark Giordano – Rasmus Andersson

Noah Hanifin – Chris Tanev

Juuso Valimaki – Nikita Nesterov

Goalies

Jacob Markstrom

David Rittich

SPECIAL TEAMS

Canadiens: PP 26.1% (12 ^th ), 78.6% (15 ^th )

Flames: PP 33.3% (6 ^th ), PK 83.3% (12 ^th )

INJURIES

Canadiens: C Joel Armia (concussion)

Flames: RW Dillon Dube (lower body)

[email protected]

@WesGilbertson

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