Game 8: Montreal Canadiens @ Calgary Flames
Start time: **8:30 PM EDT / 5:30 PM PDT**
In Canada: Sportsnet (English)
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+, RDS
The Calgary Flames were authoring a similar story to the Montreal Canadiens to end last season: a very young team still in the midst of a rebuild beating expectations by pushing for a playoff spot. Montreal got the happy ending from that tale, but Calgary, despite finishing with five more points than the Habs, were just out of the frame of the playoff picture. As good as the Flames were, the St. Louis Blues were better in the latter part of the season, and claimed the final playoff spot by holding the regulation-wins tiebreaker.
It was hard for Flames fans to be too disappointed in the outcome of the season. They had seen encouraging performances from Matt Coronato (24 goals) and Connor Zary (27 points), and at the very end of the season got a one-game glimpse of defenceman Zayne Parekh, who is projected to be a star on their blue line for many years to come. The greatest performance of all was put forth in net by rookie Dustin Wolf posting a 29-16-8 record, a .910 save percentage, and three shutouts, ending the year as the runner-up to Lane Hutson in Calder Trophy voting.
With a 96-point season as a teaser, the thought was that Calgary would use that experience to go a step forward this year. So far, through seven games played, it has been the opposite for the club. Coronato is on about the same goal pace, but his two goals are leading the team. Zary has just a single point, and Parekh, who scored in his NHL debut last year, has none so far.
Most troubling of all as far as any post-season hopes go is that Wolf hasn’t been the same player. He has just one win and is allowing almost four goals per game. It was going to be hard for him to replicate last year’s heroics and pull his team along, and perhaps the increased expectations have gotten to the 24-year-old netminder. He will be better in the years to come, but this isn’t shaping up to be his year.
Tale of the Tape
Canadiens
Statistics
Flames
5-2-0
Record
1-6-0
47.0% (25th)
Expected-goal share
51.6% (12th)
3.57 (5th)
Goals per game
1.57 (32nd)
2.86 (15th)
Goals against per game
3.86 (30th)
17.4% (22nd)
PP%
14.8% (27th)
73.7% (23rd)
PK%
75.0% (19th)
0-1-1
Head-to-Head Record (24-25)
2-0-0
Cole Caufield (5)
Most goals
Matt Coronato (2)
Nick Suzuki (9)
Most assists
Nazem Kadri (4)
Nick Suzuki (10)
Most points
Nazem Kadri (4)
If the Flames are going to experience a regression during their rebuild, this is probably the best year to do it in. There is a highly anticipated sweepstakes coming at the end of the season for the worst teams in the league: a chance to win the first-overall draft pick and add Gavin McKenna to the roster. Already with some good young NHLers and a decent prospect pool, McKenna could be the piece that turns the Flames into a perennial playoff team.
Their pool took a bit of a hit last year when they had to send their first-round selection to Montreal, though they did have two others to work with. That swap completed the Sean Monahan trade made during Brad Treliving’s tenure when he believed the team could still contend without Matthew Tkachuk and the late Johnny Gaudreau. The pick heading Montreal’s way was one of the final bits of business from that misjudgment made by the previous regime.
Calgary’s loss was Montreal’s gain as the Canadiens used that pick in a package to acquire Noah Dobson. They didn’t get a prospect who needed years to develop, but one of the game’s top right-shot defenceman who has been the steady force on the back end Montreal needed. Despite being tasked with shutdown duties, he has three points in his last four games, including the first goal with his new team, and might be starting to look like the player who contributed 70 points to the New York Islanders two years ago.
Thanks in part to Dobson, Montreal isn’t experiencing the same slow start as Calgary. The starts of the two teams couldn’t be more different as the Habs have started off 5-2, sitting second in the Atlantic Division. Calgary swept both games of the season series a year ago, including one of the matches when Wolf kept his opponent off the scoreboard. With Montreal averaging exactly two more goals per game and one less allowed, the Habs will be favoured to get the win tonight, what would be a positive start to their third-longest road trip of the season.
