Perhaps the Montreal Canadiens should have simply waved the white flag when it was announced an hour before game time that Carey Price would not start Thursday night against the Calgary Flames. Despite backup goaltender Al Montoya giving it his all in Price’s place, the rest of his teammates failed to show as the Canadiens were shut out by the Calgary Flames 5-0 at the Scotiabank Saddledome. It was the Canadiens worst performance under new head coach Claude Julien who blamed fatigue for the team’s poor play. Perhaps the Canadiens were indeed tired. Perhaps other players were feeling the effects of a flu bug making its way through the dressing room.

With their loss and the Ottawa Senators 2-1 overtime win over the Arizona Coyotes, the Canadiens now lead the Atlantic division by just two points while the second place Senators hold the advantage with two games in hand. By the time the Canadiens play the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, they might find themselves knocked out of first place as the Senators will have an opportunity to leapfrog them in the standings when they visit the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday.

Puck props and flops:

Flops:

Alexei Emelin - After sitting Emelin on Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canucks, Julien decided to give the veteran defenseman another chance and inserted him in the game against the Flames. Perhaps Julien would like to have taken a mulligan on that decision. Emelin looked rusty and ended the night a minus three. He did not have a single hit throughout the entire game. For Emelin to be successful, he must be physically involved in the game, he must have that extra edge to his game. Instead Emelin seemed focused on trying to get involved in the offense which ended up costing the Canadiens as he got caught up ice. For how much longer will Julien be patient with Emelin? Will Brandon Davidson get another chance to get back into the lineup and play against his former team on Sunday?

Jeff Petry - As bad as Emelin looked against the Flames, Petry looked just as bad or worse. Petry has looked like a shell of his usual of self since the calendar year changed to 2017. In the last 18 games Petry has just 3 assists and has not scored a goal since December 23rd, 2016. If Petry were to once again become more involved in the offense there is little doubt that the entire team would benefit. However, it is in his own zone that Petry has been especially struggling in as of late. On the Flames first goal scored by Mark Giordano, Petry got himself completely turned inside out and lost focus. In fact, he seems lost in general on the ice. If the Canadiens are going to succeed at all come the playoffs, they are going to need the Petry from the first half of the season to show up and play.

Really, the rest of the Canadiens defensemen - From top to bottom all of the Canadiens defensemen had a weak night against the Flames. Shea Weber, Andrei Markov and Jordie Benn looked particularly slow against the faster Flames forwards. Benn had his worst performance thus far in a Canadiens jersey as he finished the game a minus three. Communication was weak on the ice and they looked scared without Price in nets. In truth, they let Montoya down.

The Canadiens powerplay - Yes they are without Alexander Radulov but there is no excuse for not having Alex Galchenyuk on the Canadiens first powerplay unit. Instead Phillip Danault continued to center Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher on the first unit and they did very little to create any scoring opportunities. Without Radulov in the lineup, Galchenyuk is the team’s most gifted offensive player. The rationale for not playing on the Canadiens even strength first line is understood. However it is not right that he is not getting additional time on the powerplay. Danault has one powerplay point all season long. Galchenyuk has 14.

Props:

The Canadiens fourth line - They were the only line that seemed to have any energy on the ice as they did their best to try to spark the team. Steve Ott and Michael McCarron led the Canadiens with four hits each while Paul Byron had his second career NHL fight against his former team. You know that it was a weird night when Byron is fighting…

Alex Galchenyuk - Despite the Canadiens losing 3-0, Galchenyuk was actually strong in his own end, coming back to help the defensemen and not giving up on the play. Galchenyuk had three blocked shots against the Flames, which is somewhat of a rarity. Dwight King has done very little on Galchenyuk’s line since he was placed there. Perhaps Andrew Shaw or Byron would have been a better choice to try to help the line get going…

Al Montoya - Life as a backup goaltender must be tough. Montoya was thrust into the game when Price was revealed to be to ill to start. Despite not being mentally prepared to start the game, Montoya's play was admirable as he kept the Canadiens in the game for as long as possible before the team totally fell apart. Hopefully the next time he plays the team steps and is stronger in front of him as he deserves better...

The Canadiens had Friday off as they let their bodies recover from the flu, time change and other ailments. They will practice in Edmonton on Saturday and so hopefully Radulov and Tomas Plekanec will be healthy and return to the lineup…

Cheers and follow along!
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