Calgary has a 6-2-0 record against the Habs this season and will be looking to complete a three-game series sweep Monday night.
Stu Cowan Montreal Gazette
Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom makes a save against Canadiens’ Eric Staal (21) during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on Saturday, April 24, 2021. Photo by Sergei Belski /USA TODAY Sports
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Coming into this three-game series against the Canadiens, the Calgary Flames knew they had to win all three to have a legitimate chance of catching Montreal for the fourth and final playoff spot in the all-Canadian North Division.
After Saturday nights 5-2 win in Calgary, the Flames are two-thirds of the way to doing that.
Johnny Gaudreau scored twice for Calgary, while Milan Lucic, Brett Ritchie and Rasmus Andersson (empty-netter) added singles as the Flames improved their record to 21-23-3 and moved within four points of the Canadiens (20-17-9) with Montreal holding one game in hand.
Nick Suzuki and Tyler Toffoli (power play) scored for the Canadiens.
If the Flames can complete the sweep Monday night (6:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM), things are going to get very interesting down the stretch in this condensed 56-game NHL season. The pressure is now on the Canadiens.
The Flames have a 6-2-0 record in eight games against the Canadiens this season and are 6-1-0 in the last seven matchups while limiting Montreal to nine goals. The Canadiens cant seem to handle the Flames ground-and-pound system under head coach Darryl Sutter, featuring a heavy forecheck.
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Scoring goals has been a big problem for the Canadiens since Brendan Gallagher suffered a fractured thumb in a 3-2 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers on April 5. Since then, the Canadiens have 3-8-0 record and have scored two goals or less in nine of those 11 games.
Not making the playoffs would be a disaster for the Canadiens after they got off to a 7-1-2 start this season. Those days must now seem like a very long time ago to Canadiens fans.
Cayden Primeau started in goal for the Canadiens on Saturday night after Jake Allen had played in nine of the previous 10 games. Head coach Dominique Ducharme announced before the game that goalie Carey Price, who missed his third straight game because of a concussion, has returned to Montreal and there hasnt been much progress in his recovery.
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For Primeau, it was his third NHL game and his first since Dec. 11, 2019, when he stopped 35 of 37 shots in a 3-2 OT win over the Ottawa Senators at the Bell Centre. Primeau made 29 saves as the Flames outshot the Canadiens 34-32.
The Canadiens had a much better start to this game than they did in Friday nights 4-2 loss to the Flames.
Suzuki opened the scoring at 11:32 of the first period, backhanding in a rebound for his ninth goal of the season. It was Suzukis first goal in seven games and only his second in the last 15. It looked like the Canadiens would head into the intermission with the 1-0 lead, but Gaudreau scored with 31 seconds left on the clock, beating Primeau with a wicked wrist shot high to the glove side that went in off the post.
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The Canadiens outshot Calgary 14-11 in the first period and outhit them 11-5, but the Flames went to the locker room with momentum on their side.
The Flames took a 2-1 lead when Lucic scored off a faceoff at 2:14 of the second period. Suzuki, who has struggled on faceoffs all season, lost the draw clean to the Flames Derek Ryan.
Calgary went up 3-1 when a bad giveaway in the offensive zone by Jeff Petry resulted in Gaudreaus second goal of the game at 5:31 of the second period. Toffoli cut the lead to 3-2 when he scored his team-leading 24th goal on a power play at 18:03, setting the stage for a tense third period.
The Flames relieved their tension when Richie scored 4:41 into the third period after Jesperi Kotkaniemi turned the puck over just outside the Canadiens blue line.
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Calgary shut Montreal down after that again with Rasmussen scoring into an empty net at 17:31 after Primeau had gone to the bench.
The Canadiens Jonathan Drouin missed his second straight game with a non-COVID related illness, while Paul Byron was also sidelined with a lower-body injury and was listed as day-to-day. Jake Evans, who had been a healthy scratch for the previous six games, replaced Byron in the lineup and the Canadiens went with seven defencemen for the second straight game.
scowan@postmedia.com
twitter.com/StuCowan1
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