Things started off badly for the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday and ended off worse, as they fell to the Calgary Flames by a score of 5-0 and lost ground to the Ottawa Senators in the race to the top of the Atlantic Division.
From the second Canadiens goaltender Carey Price was ruled out of action—just two hours before puck drop—to the second the final whistle blew on what turned out to be Calgary’s eighth consecutive win, the game was a lost cause for Montreal.
Adding insult to injury for the Canadiens was the fact that as they were skating off the ice in Calgary the Senators were in the midst of completing a late-game rally over the Arizona Coyotes, winning 3-2 in overtime to pull within two points of their Atlantic Division lead.
The Senators, who have two games in hand on the Canadiens, have now won five in a row, and both teams are just a week away from starting a three-game series against each other that will take place over the eight days between March 18-25.
The Canadiens had better hope that by the time they step on the ice for that showdown they bear a closer resemblance to the team that won six consecutive games prior to Thursday than to the one that appeared completely discombobulated against the Flames.
While Price, who had sported a .951 save percentage over his last eight starts, was resigned to the bench due to flu, his teammates looked worse for wear right from the start.
A comedy of errors by the Canadiens offered Flames captain Mark Giordano the opportunity to open the scoring in a first period that saw Calgary out-shoot Montreal 16-5. Defenceman Alexei Emelin, who had been scratched for Montreal’s last game, got caught on an ill-timed pinch in the offensive zone, and teammates Jeff Petry and Phillip Danault got crossed up fending against the 3-on-2 rush.
Giordano finished the play with ease, placing a perfect shot into the top corner of Al Montoya’s net.
Perhaps no play served as a better example of how disconnected the Canadiens were in this game than the one which saw defenceman Jordie Benn trip over the offensive blue line as the puck dribbled over his stick to start the rush that led to Calgary’s second goal.
A wide shot caromed off the boards behind Montoya and was retrieved by the Flames, who then completed two quick passes before defenceman Michael Stone quickly shot it off the post and in to put his team up 2-0.
When Sean Monahan and Micheal Ferland scored 26 seconds apart to give Calgary a 4-0 lead with just over four minutes remaining in the second period, it became fairly obvious the Canadiens weren’t going to dig into the reserves to pull off a miracle comeback.
If it wasn’t for Montoya, who made 33 saves and had no chance on the goal Johnny Gaudreau scored to make it 5-0 Flames, the outcome would’ve been more lopsided.
Now the Canadiens must reconcile with the fact that one small slip—after playing their best stretch of hockey in well over a month—has them in a precarious position. Such is life in the Eastern Conference, where the margins are tightening by the day.
There’s isn’t much for Montreal to take away from the game. It’s probably best that they file it away and forget about it—and thank their lucky stars they walked away relatively unscathed while Stone and Flames defenceman Dougie Hamilton both exited early with undisclosed injuries.
The Canadiens will take Friday off before getting back to business on Saturday in preparation for a game in Edmonton on Sunday.
They’ll have to hope that Alexander Radulov, who missed the last two games with a lower-body injury, will be ready to return against the Oilers. The dynamic Russian, who has 46 points in 63 games this season, has been the main offensive catalyst for the team.
Had Radulov been available to the Canadiens on Thursday, regular linemate Max Pacioretty might have been able to snap a four-game goalless drought instead of extending it to five by failing to hit the back of the net on any of his four shots.
Getting centre Tomas Plekanec back, who missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, would be a boost for Montreal on the defensive side of the puck—where they struggled most against Calgary.
Price’s immediate return to action would be a good omen for a team in need of a quick reversal.
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