After collecting all four possible points against two weak Ontario clubs, the Flames are in La Belle Province this evening to take on the Habs (5:30PM MT, Sportsnet West/RDS) who should represent more of a challenge for the visitors. The Flames took both games from the Habs last season by scores of 4-3 and 1-0.
Carey PriceEdmonton OilersThe 23-year old 'tender has an EV SV% of .926 in forty games played, with a record of 15-6-3 at the Belle Centre, where the Canadiens have had a lot of success this season. He won't start tonight, however, as Alex Auld gets the call in net, with the last of his three wins coming against the New York Rangers on January 11th. Auld is 7-5-2 in 14 regular season games against the Flames with a .901SV%. The Habs should also benefit from the return of former Flame Mike Cammalleri--who missed two games with a bought of strep throat--although the infamous Quebec media managed to attribute his absence to him being "unhappy" in Montreal, which the diminutive forward flat out denies.
Cammy is on pace for 22 goals and 53 points in 79 games this season, a small improvement over the 50 he collected in 65 games in his first season as a Hab in which he missed 17 games with a leg injury after a nasty collision, although his 9.7 SH% is the lowest it's been since 2007-08, when he was still with the Kings.
After two so-so efforts against worse teams, the visiting Flames will need to be on their game tonight. They can't afford to give the 11th-ranked Canadiens anything on the powerplay and will likely be hard-pressed to beat their second-best penalty killers. The Flames could get the added bonus of having Robyn Regehr back tonight, who is reportedly a game-time decision after missing the past two games with a knee injury, contrary to speculation that the defenceman had waived his no-movement clause and was awaiting a trade.
Lines and Pairings:
Tanguay-Morrison-Iginla
Bourque-Jokinen-Kotalik
Hagman-Stajan-Glencross
Moss-Backlund-Jackman
Bouwmeester-Giordano
Sarich-Pardy
Babchuk-Mikkelson
Kiprusoff
Enjoy the game everyone and celebrate the fact that Hal Gill might just be a slower skater than Robyn Regehr/Cory Sarich/Steve Staios in the comments. Go Flames.