Preview: Calgary Flames @ Montreal Canadiens 1/24/17 (51/82)

When it rains it pours. The Flames, losers of 3 straight are in Montreal for the second night of a back to back. The Flames put forth a truly embarrassing performance on Monday night in a 4-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs and now find themselves staring down the top team in the Atlantic Division. No punches being pulled here: if the Flames keep playing the way they have over their last 8 games, this one could be over 5 minutes into the contest. Speaking of 8 games, that’s how many games in a row the Flames have allowed the first goal of the contest. Calgary can’t seem to get it together early in games and they’ve proven they aren’t a team that can play from behind with success. The goaltending has faltered as both Chad Johnson and Brian Elliott have looked like glorified backups in their last 2 starts. The Flames are also getting NO offence from the likes of Johnny Gaudreau, Troy Brouwer or Alex Chiasson. It’s getting to the time where the Flames precarious hold on the 8th and final playoff spot could be ripped right from their hands.

The Canadiens meanwhile sit atop the Atlantic division with 28 wins and 63 points. The Canadiens used a 9-0-1 October to put them ahead in the East and have stayed comfortably in the top 5 of the conference. Montreal has stumbled a bit recently, having dropped 5 of their last 8, including two of their last 3. Montreal is a place where the Canadiens have had a lot of success against the Flames as they own a 33-18-8 record against Calgary. The Canadiens are 6-4-0 in their last 10 meetings with the Flames at their home rink.

Here’s how the teams match-up:

What’s Happening With The Opposition?

Last Time Out

Calgary Flames 0 Toronto Maple Leafs 4

If you thought the Edmonton game on Sunday was disgusting, you shouldn’t watch these highlights. The Flames stopped off in Toronto and got beat down for their troubles by a score of 4-0. The Flames had no push back and little effort and it showed on the scoreboard. Here’s our recap, the highlights, Glen Gulutzan’s post game thoughts and the stats from the contest.

Montreal Canadiens 2 Buffalo Sabres 3 (OT)

The Canadiens came home for the first of a 2 game home stand and fell to the Sabres in OT 3-2. Carey Price stopped 35 of 38 shots and the Habs got goals from Artturi Lehkonen and Phillip Danault, but it wasn’t enough to get the Canadiens the win. Eyes On The Prize has the recap and NHL.com provides the highlights.

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not

Calgary Flames

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Hot: Sean Monahan (C). Monahan was held off the score sheet, as were all the Flames, in their 4-0 loss to the Maple Leafs. Prior to that contest Monahan had 5 goals in 5 games and was looking like he was heating up. He has 10 points in 11 games so far this month.

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Not: Johnny Gaudreau (F). Gaudreau is slumping in all sorts of bad ways. He’s been getting slammed around lately and his offence is non existent. Johnny Hockey has only 4 points in 11 games this month and is a -6 in January, but also finds him a -12 on the road this season.

Montreal Canadiens

Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Hot: Phillip Danault (F). Danault has 25 points this season and he’s collected 9 of those this month. He picked up a goal in Montreal’s 3-2 loss to Buffalo which broke a 3 game skid without a point. Prior to that however he a had a 3 assist night in a 5-4 win over the NY Rangers.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Not: Carey Price (G). While Price is Montreal’s brick wall goaltender, he’s been off in his last 5 starts. Price is 1-3-1 in his last 5 and has allowed 19 goals on 141 shots. His worst showing of the month came in a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of the Minnesota Wild.