THURSDAY
Montreal Canadiens (16-12-6) at Calgary Flames (18-14-4)
7 p.m. MT, Scotiabank Saddledome, Sportsnet West, TSN2 Sportsnet 960 The Fan
THE BIG MATCHUP
Flames G David Rittich vs. Canadiens G Carey Price
It’s been quite the ride for David Rittich this season, managing No. 1 minutes and keeping the ship afloat during some pretty tumultuous waters. There is a need to monitor the workload for the 27-year-old , considering the Flames need him to last until the springtime — if they want a deep playoff run. Carey Price, meanwhile, will one day write a book about his tales as the OG, no questions asked, starting netminder for the Habs. As is the case everywhere the Canadiens go, there will be a hefty amount of Bleu-Blanc-Rouge sweaters in the stands cheering on the No. 1. Meanwhile, Rittich had the night off on Tuesday and will be looking to help the Flames end a two-game losing skid.
FIVE STORYLINES FOR THE GAME
HITTING THE ROAD
After Thursday’s game, the Flames will skate Friday and then travel to Dallas on Saturday to square off with the Stars (Sunday, 5 p.m. MT) and the Minnesota Wild (Monday, 3 p.m. MT) . . . They’ll disperse for three days and reconvene Dec. 27 in Edmonton for the first regular-season Battle of Alberta . . . After that, it’s a three-game homestand for the Flames who host the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 29, the Chicago Blackhawks on New Year’s Eve, and the New York Rangers on Jan. 2.
VALIMAKI PROGRESSING
Although there is no updated timeline on the return of Juuso Valimaki, who is recovering from a torn ACL, Flames GM Brad Treliving believes his rehabilitation is moving in the right direction. The 21-year-old blueliner and 16th overall selection from 2017 travelled with the team to Colorado and Arizona last week as a way of lifting his spirits and sent him home to Tampere, Finland, for Christmas. “These were all built into the plan we put together . . . but it’s going well on the rehab and it just takes time,” Treliving said.
ABOUT THE HABS
Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the host Vancouver Canucks was almost like a home game for the Canadiens, considering a handful of players are from the Vancouver area and hail from B.C., including Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher. Nick Cousins, Tomas Tatar and Shea Weber scored for the Canadiens who were out-shot by the Canucks 39-30. Montreal went 2-for-2 on the powerplay . . . They’re 8-4-3 on the road — good thing, because they just began a stretch of seven straight dates away from La belle province.
REMEMBER WHEN?
It’s been over a calendar year since these teams have clashed, having completed the 2018-19 season series on Nov. 15, 2018, with a 3-2 loss to the Canadiens at Scotiabank Saddledome. Back then, Mike Smith was battling confidence issues and allowed three goals on 22 shots while the Flames were struggling to find their place in the NHL standings. Montreal goalie Carey Price, meanwhile, turned aside 43 of 45 Flames’ shots. Matthew Tkachuk had both Calgary goals while Mikael Backlund had eight shots on net and Tkachuk, Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan each had six. The Flames also lost 3-2 in Montreal on Oct. 23.
THIS N’ THAT
Calgary has lost the past three meetings with the Canadiens . . . They’ll face each other again on Jan. 13 at Bell Centre . . . The Flames placed RW Austin Czarnik on waivers Wednesday morning . . . The Flames are 7-2-1 in the last 10 games and have a goal differential of minus-12 . . . Gaudreau has scored five goals in seven games in December. Not a bad clip considering he only had five goals in 29 games from the start of October to the end of November . . . Prior to Wednesday’s game against the Iowa Wild, Flames LW Matthew Phillips had three goals in two games since his NHL recall and was riding a seven-game point streak (seven goals and five assists in that span).
FLAMES LINEUP
Forwards
Matthew Tkachuk – Elias Lindholm – Andrew Mangiapane
Dillon Dube – Sean Monahan – Mikael Backlund
Milan Lucic – Derek Ryan – Johnny Gaudreau
Sam Bennett – Tobias Rieder – Michael Frolik
Defence
Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Noah Hanifin – Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington – Rasmus Andersson
Goaltenders
David Rittich
Cam Talbot
CANADIENS LINEUP
Forwards
Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher
Artturi Lehkonen – Max Domi – Joel Armia
Nick Cousins – Nick Suzuki – Jordan Weal
Ryan Poehling – Nate Thompson – Riley Barber
Defence
Ben Chiarot – Shea Weber
Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry
Victor Mete – Cale Fleury
Goaltenders
Carey Price
Charlie Lindgren
INJURIES
Canadiens — LW Paul Byron (knee), LW Jonathan Drouin (wrist), C Matthew Peca (leg).
Flames — D Juuso Valimaki (knee)
SPECIAL TEAMS
Power play (prior to Wednesday’s action)
Canadiens : 21.7% (20-for-92, 10th)
Flames : 17.3% (19-for-110, 21st)
Penalty kill (prior to Wednesday’s action)
Canadiens : 76.0% (27th)
Flames : 84.2% (6th)
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2019
