After getting back to their winning ways on Monday night against the Buffalo Sabres, the Montreal Canadiens flew out west for the first game of a four-game road trip against the Calgary Flames. Surprisingly, Ryan Huska’s men are currently last in the standings with a single win to their name in seven games, and they are also last in goals for with only 12 lamplighters. Their sole win came in their first game of the season, meaning that they are in the midst of a six-game losing streak.
On top of being unable to score, the Flames are also dealing with the fact that last year’s runner-up in the Calder Trophy voting, Dustin Wolf, is having a tough start. He has just one win in six games with a 3.91 goals-against average and a .866 save percentage. Last season, he posted a 2.64 GAA and a .910 SV, winning 29 of the 53 games he played. There may be light at the end of the tunnel for the Flames, though, since they’ve won their last four games against the Canadiens.
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The starting goaltenders have yet to be confirmed, but this may be a bounce-back opportunity for Wolf since he has never lost against the Canadiens. He has beaten Montreal three times and has a 1.33 GAA and a .954 SV against the Habs. His backup, 28-year-old Devin Cooley (no relation to Logan Cooley), has never faced Montreal and has only six games of experience in the NHL, having spent the last five seasons in the AHL and ECHL.
As for the Canadiens, Jakub Dobes’ performance on Monday night would be deserving of another start, but Martin St-Louis might want to use the red-hot goaltenders against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday rather than against the struggling Flames on Wednesday. Time will tell. Dobes has only faced Calgary once and lost the game, but he was far from at fault, as he gave up only one goal and had a .958 save percentage, saving 23 of the 24 shots he faced. As for Samuel Montembeault, he has a 0-2-1 record against tonight’s hosts with a 2.69 GAA and a .913 SV. The Habs' number one goaltender is struggling a bit so far this season, with a 3.26 GAA and a .857 SV%.
Calgary’s most productive player against the Habs is Jonathan Huberdeau, who has gathered 32 points in 36 games, but the left winger has only played two games so far this year, having started on LTIR, which certainly hurt the Flames. Nazem Kadri comes in second place with 24 points in 42 duels, and Blake Coleman completes the top three with 14 points in 20 games. As for Connor Zary, he has three points in as many games against the Habs.
Meanwhile, Nick Suzuki is the most productive forward against the Flames with 13 points in 19 games, followed by Patrik Laine, who has 12 in 15 games (but he’s still day-to-day with a lower-body injury and hasn’t made the trip with the team). Brendan Gallagher completes the top three with eight points in 21 duels. It will be interesting to see if Kirby Dach returns to action tonight of if Joshua Roy will get to play his first game of the season.
Tonight’s tilt will be the first of two duels between the two teams this season, with the return game in Montreal scheduled for January 7. The teams have split the honours of the last 10 duels. With an assist tonight, captain Suzuki could join Rejean Houle in 34th place on the Canadiens’ all-time list of assist leaders. As for sniper Cole Caufield, he’s on the record watch since his next overtime goal will break the record in Canadiens’ history; he currently has 10 extra time goals and shares first place with Max Pacioretty and Howie Morenz, who both have played a lot more games than the diminutive winger. Caufield has skated in 294 games, while Pacioretty played 626 and Morenz 550.
Tonight’s game starts at 8:30 PM, and after the match, the Canadiens will immediately head to Edmonton, where they’ll take on the Oilers on Thursday at 9:00 PM.
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