Two of the NHL’s hotter teams will face one another this evening as the Calgary Flames host the Montreal Canadiens at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames are currently tied with the Chicago Blackhawks for the longest win streak in the NHL at seven games while the Canadiens are right behind having won six in a row. Someone’s streak is going to break tonight and it should make for an exciting game as neither team wants to be the one that comes up empty. The Flames will likely be seeking retribution for their embarrassing 5-1 loss that they suffered when the Canadiens hosted them at the Bell Centre on January 24th.
The Flames currently own the first wild card position in the Western Conference with 76 points, five ahead of the St. Louis Blues who hold just one game in hand. They are still very much in the hunt for second or third place in the Pacific division as they are just two points behind the Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers. Goaltender Brian Elliott has been especially strong for the Flames as he is undefeated in his last eight games (7-0-1) with a save percentage of .934. Numbers that his former Blues team would likely be very happy with… Elliott will be making his fifth consecutive start for the Flames. The rest of their line up will be:
Forwards:
Matthew Tkachuk-Mikael Backlund-Michael Frolik Johnny Gaudreau-Sean Monahan-Micheal Ferland Kris Versteeg-Sam Bennett-Troy Brouwer Lance Bouma-Matt Stajan-Alex Chiasson
Defense:
Mark Giordano-Dougie Hamilton TJ Brodie-Michael Stone Matt Bartkowski-Deryk Engelland
Starting goaltender:
Brian Elliott
As for the Canadiens, they will attempt to keep pace ahead of the Ottawa Senators who are inching their way closer to the top of the Atlantic division. With the Senators 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars, they are now just four points behind the Canadiens and hold two games in hand. The Senators face the Arizona Coyotes this evening which makes tonight’s game against the Flames that much more of a must win for the Canadiens.
The Canadiens will be without the injured Tomas Plekanec, Alexander Radulov and Brian Flynn while Alexei Emelin and Michael McCarron will both draw back into the lineup. The good news is that both Plekanec and Radulov are skating and so there is still a chance that they might play on this road trip, Sunday against the Oilers. Brandon Davidson made a solid if unspectacular debut with the Canadiens against the Vancouver Canucks but head coach Claude Julien likely wants to give veteran Alexei Emelin another chance after a night in the press box. If Emelin is able to play up to his capabilities and tighten his game, the Canadiens will be all the better for it as Julien will be able to limit Shea Weber and Andrei Markov’s minutes so that they do not go near 25 again like they did against the Canucks…
The expected Canadiens lines will be:
Pacioretty-Danault-Gallagher King-Galchenyuk-Lehkonen Byron-Mitchell-Shaw Martinsen-Ott-McCarron
Markov-Weber Emelin-Petry Beaulieu-Benn
Carey Price will get the start in net.
Of note, the AHL has finally updated their website and the paperwork was indeed filed for McCarron to be eligible for the St. John’s Ice Caps playoffs should they make it.
Puck drops at 9pm EST, 7pm Central.
Cheers and enjoy the game! Follow @Jenbcutler