The Calgary Flames and the Montreal Canadiens meet in NHL action from the Bell Centre on Thursday night.
The Calgary Flames come into this game looking to rebound from a 4-1 loss at the hands of the San Jose Sharks in their last game. Elias Lindholm leads the Flames with 14 points including 7 goals and 7 assists while Johnny Gaudreau also has 14 points with a team-high 10 assists and Lindholm boasts a team-best +11 plus/minus rating to boot. Matthew Tkachuk has 11 points with 6 goals and 5 assists and Andrew Mangiapane has 10 points with a team-high 8 goals while Rasmus Andersson has a +11 plus/minus rating of his own on the year. Tkachuk also leads the Flames with 4 power play goals while Lindholm has a team-high 7 power play points this season. Jacob Markstrom’s made 10 appearances for Calgary, going 5-2-3 with a 1.69 GAA and a .940 save percentage this season.
The Montreal Canadiens will try to snap a three-game losing streak after a 3-2 overtime loss at the hands of the L.A. Kings in their last game. Nick Suzuki has a team-high 12 points including 9 assists while Tyler Toffoli and Jonathan Drouin each have 7 points on the year. Mike Hoffman leads the Habs with 4 goals on the year while Mathieu Perreault has a team-best +3 plus/minus rating as well on the year. Jake Allen’s made 12 starts between the pipes for Montreal, going 3-8-1 with a 2.93 GAA and a .901 save percentage this season.
Calgary is 5-0 in their last 5 road games and 7-3 in their last 10 games overall while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 Thursday games. Montreal is 1-5 in their last 6 games overall and 1-8 in their last 9 games as an underdog while the under is 4-0-1 in their last 5 games against a team with a winning record.
I get the case that could be made for a home dog in most spots, but even getting Carey Price back in the fold hasn’t helped the Canadiens get their confidence back and I mean realistically, Price can’t score the goals for this team. Calgary’s playing the far better hockey right now and I just think that on the road, they’re still the far better team and are getting a reasonable price in this one. Give me the Flames.