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Canadiens @ Flames: Nothing in the Tank | HABS RECAP

Montreal Canadiens vs Calgary Flames, Game Recap: Habs Line-up, Score, Statistics, Highlights, Post-game Interviews, NHL Three-Stars

FINAL | Game 26, Away Game 15 | Thursday March 11, 2021
Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, AB

CANADIENS

Montreal

1-2

FLAMES

Calgary

Victor Mete (Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images)

Canadiens Lineup

Forward lines

Jonathan Drouin – Nick Suzuki – Josh Anderson

Tyler Toffoli – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Brendan Gallagher

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Joel Armia

Paul Byron – Jake Evans – Corey Perry

Defence pairings

Alexander Romanov – Shea Weber

Joel Edmundson – Jeff Petry

Brett Kulak – Victor Mete

Goaltenders

 Jake Allen – Carey Price

Scratches

Artturi Lehkonen

Taxi Squad

Xavier Ouellet, Laurent Dauphin, Michael Frolik, Charlie Lindgren

Injuries

Ben Chiarot

Game Report

It’s easy to dismiss this game as unwinnable given the circumstances. The Canadiens arrived late in Calgary after an 11 pm. ET start in Vancouver on Wednesday night. The team was fatigued. How could they be expected to win?

But the cold reality of this NHL season with a compressed schedule is that there are no asterisks beside any match. All teams have challenges dictated by the schedule and travel. And there are no excuses permitted.

Despite the quick turnaround, despite the fact that the Flames were playing for a new coach, this was a winnable game. Coming into the game tonight, the Flames had won just three in their past ten contests. And over the course of the past 10 days, they had lost three times to the Ottawa Senators.

Sadly, the Canadiens were beaten by the Flames fourth line tonight, with Josh Leivo getting his second and third goals of the season. And even after a weak effort on the night, Montreal found themselves on a power-play in the third period trailing by just one goal, but could not muster the effort to score.

A very busy schedule for the Canadiens continues for the next seven weeks. They must find a way to cope. It was odd to see that the interim head coach chose to make Artturi Lehkonen a healthy scratch for the third straight game when fresh legs may have made a difference.

Up Next

The Canadiens will return to the Saddledome on Saturday night for a rematch with the Flames.

Plus

▲ Corey Perry

Minus

▼ Brett Kulak, Phillip Danault, Alexander Romanov, Victor Mete, Jonathan Drouin, Jeff Petry, Paul Byron

Game Preview

Check out the game preview here: Canadiens @ Flames: New Look Defence

The Numbers

Game Statistics
CANADIENS   FLAMES
18 Shots 29
49 Face-off % 51
0-for-2 Power Play 0-for-3
11 Penalty Minutes 9
24 Hits 22
27 Corsi For 45
Scoring Summary
FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Canadiens (12-7-7) 0 0 1 1
Flames (12-12-3) 0 2 0 2
Scorers Goalies
  • MTL: Perry (5)
  • CGY: Leivo (2), Leivo (3)
  • MTL: Allen (L) 4-3-3
  • CGY: Markstrom (W) 9-7-2

Stars of the Game

Official NHL Three Stars
  1. Derek Ryan  CGY
  2. Josh Leivo  CGY
  3. Noah Hanifin  CGY

Watch

Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

Post-game Quotes

Dominique Ducharme

  • “The lack of energy led to a lack of execution. We had less quick options. We were slow to react. They had more time to pressure us. We made mental mistakes because of our energy level.”

Jonathan Drouin

  • “It wasn’t our best game. They started strong and we didn’t. We had a good third period, but we didn’t have our legs and we lacked conviction. We can’t just put the blame on fatigue, but it definitely played a role. We just didn’t play our best game tonight.”
  • “Our lines struggled to create. We had trouble generating offense. We also struggled breaking out of our own zone. That was the biggest negative. The centers, wingers and defensemen didn’t play well. We have to move on. We have a big game against the Flames again on Saturday. We want to be better.”

Jake Allen

  • “My objective tonight as a goalie was to come in and get as many whistles as possible. That was my number one goal for this team. I thought I did a pretty good job of that in the second period. It’s just about slowing the game down.”

Quotes courtesy of NHL.com

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