Calgary Flames (2) vs Montreal Canadiens (3): Smith Falters In Third, Flames Lose.

Calgary Flames 2 Montreal Canadiens 3

Complete Stats

Recap

The Flames were swept by the Montreal Canadiens for the season after falling to the Habs 3-2 Thursday night. Mike Smith once again giveth and Mike Smith taketh all in the same game. Smith’s early game struggles continued as he surrendered the first goal of the game and Calgary found themselves in a hole to start. The Flames did battle back, but the good Mike Smith was overtaken by the bad Mike Smith as he surrendered a goal late in the 3rd period that has no business finding the back on the net, giving Montreal a 3-2 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Calgary put up a good fight in the second period thanks to Matthew Tkachuk and Mark Giordano. Tkachuk pumped in 2 goals in the second period, one on the PP, getting the Flames right back into the contest, and giving them a 2-1 lead. Mark Giordano had helpers on both goals as his powerhouse season continues to roll, giving him 17 points on the season. The two goals for Matthew Tkachuk gave him his first multi goal game of the season and puts him atop the Flames roster in points with 21 points.

The more stunning stat from this game were the amount of shots the Flames put on net. Carey Price saw 45 shots on the night, turning aside 43. How the Flames manage to continually put tons of pucks on net and out shoot their opponents yet still lose is mind boggling. Make no mistake, Carey Price was on point tonight and he shut the Flames down, but he hasn’t been lights out at all recently. In his previous 5 games he’s surrendered 21 goals and Calgary only managed 2 on 45 shots. Not good.

Scoring

Calgary Flames

1st: None

2nd: 3:34- Tkachuk (8) (Giordano/Lindholm), 15:53- Tkachuk (9) (Giordano/Brodie)

3rd: None

Montreal Canadiens

1st: 8:00- Tatar (8) (Gallagher/Danault)

2nd: None

3rd: 8:32- Drouin (6) (Shaw/Domi), 12:14- Lehkonen (2) (Kotkaniemi/Juulsen)

Final Thoughts

The Flames need to sort their goaltending out and sort it out now. Mike Smith isn’t the answer right now. He’s fighting the puck and the shots he needs to stop he isn’t. The Flames should be a playoff team, but goaltending like they had tonight isn’t going to get them to the post season.

The offence was certainly challenged. The new look second line looked very solid tonight and the 4th line continues to give you enough to make them a viable unit as well. Two goals isn’t going to win you many games, but when you throw 45 pucks at the net something has to give at some point.

Flame Of The Game

Matthew Tkachuk (F). Tkachuk collected 2 goals on the night and kept the Flames in this game almost on his own. He was second on the team in SOG with 6 tonight and his PPG was his 3rd on the season.

What’s Next?

11/17: Calgary Flames vs Edmonton Oilers, 8 PM MT

by Mark Parkinson