MTL@CGY: What you need to know

CALGARY - The Canadiens' four-game Western road trip gets underway with a matchup against the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Thursday.

Here's everything you need to know heading into the game:
1. The Canadiens are coming off a 4-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night. The Habs thought they had a goal in the second period when Christian Dvorak found the back of the net, but the goal was waved off due to a penalty to Evgenii Dadonov. Tuesday's loss was only the second time Montreal has been shut out so far this season. Prior to the Sharks game, the Habs had won two straight, and closed out the month of November with a 6-6-1 record.

2. The Canadiens announced on Thursday morning that forward Mike Hoffman, who did not accompany the team to Calgary, had been placed on injured reserve. The team also announced that forward Brendan Gallagher would not play against the Flames, as he's being evaluated for a lower-body injury. Montreal recalled forward Rem Pitlick from the AHL's Laval Rocket; he'll be joining the team in Calgary on Thursday.
For his part, Cole Caufield should be suiting up for the 100th game of his NHL career. The 21-year-old has enjoyed a strong start to the season, with 12 goals and 21 points in 22 games.

3. Sean Monahan, a 10-year veteran, is making his first trip back to the Saddledome since being acquired by the Canadiens in August. The 28-year-old first cracked the Calgary lineup as an 18-year-old and became the first Flames rookie to hit the 20-goal mark with a 22-goal output in 2013-14. Monahan went on to put up 212 goals and 250 assists for 462 points in 656 games for Calgary and won 50.4% of his faceoffs with the team. The Brampton, ON native has five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 22 games so far this season with Montreal.

4. The Flames, meanwhile, have just one win in their last four games. That win came in their most recent outing, a 6-2 victory over the Florida Panthers in Matthew Tkachuk's return to Calgary. Dillon Dube, Jonathan Huberdeau, Rasmus Andersson, Brett Ritchie, Tyler Toffoli, and Andrew Mangiapane scored for the winning side, while Dan Vladar made 31 saves. Calgary is currently in second Wild Card position in the Western Conference with a 10-9-3 record in 22 games. Toffoli, Andersson, and Elias Lindholm are in a three-way tie for first in points on Calgary with 16 apiece, while Toffoli and Nazem Kadri lead the Flames with eight goals each.
This is the first of two matchups between the two teams, with the Flames slated to pay the Habs a visit to the Bell Centre on December 12. Last season, Montreal won both games against Calgary to sweep the season series.
5. Game time on Thursday is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET. You can catch all the action on TSN2, Sportsnet West, and RDS on television, or on TSN 690 and 98,5 fm on the radio.