2021_5Things_vsMTL_Blasty

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pre-Game Interviews
GAME DAY FEATURES
Rising To The Challenge - Ritchie
Projected Lineup
Say What - 'Pumped Up'
STAT PACK
Head-to-Head Stats
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Johnny Gaudreau, Elias Lindholm (23)
Goals - Gaudreau (11)
Canadiens:
Points - Jeff Petry (24)
Goals - Tyler Toffoli (15)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 21.1% (17th) / PK - 79.8% (14th)
Canadiens:
PP - 22.5% (14th) / PK - 77.2% (19th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 50.80% (10th)
High-Danger Chances: 51.32% (12th)
Canadiens:
Shot Attempts: 56.24% (2nd)
High-Danger Chances: 57.88% (3rd)

1. SUTTER'S DEBUT

It's one of the most highly anticipated games in recent memory.
For the first time in 15 years, Darryl Sutter will step back behind the bench at the Scotiabank Saddledome and direct the Flames in the midst of a playoff race.
As longtime veteran and former Sutter apprentice Milan Lucic casually offered up this line during last Friday's press conference:
"Buckle up."
For an old pro like Sutter, nerves aren't likely a factor. But what are the emotions like as he saddles up in a barn so close to his heart?
"I always have a lot of confidence in my ability to manage a bench and the manage the pace in the game," Sutter said Wednesday as the Flames wrapped up another high-tempo, 45-minute practice. "That's what I'm looking forward to the most, and probably the (area) I have to get up to speed the most.
"The last two years I've been on the ice - and off the ice - with Anaheim, so that was a hands-on type of thing. But you know what? I've done this three or four times, (coming in) mid-season like this.
"That was the best part of always being a coach for me was game day and the actual puck drop.
"I'm ready to go."
And so are the players.
The Flames have enjoyed a rare, three-break between games, and after getting a few nights to rest up and connect with their new boss, inject some positivity and breathe new life into their season, confidence appears to be high down at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
They know exactly how important this upcoming stretch is, with a deluge of 'four-point games' over the next 10 days.
The Flames are six points out of a playoff spot and with the very team they're chasing - the Montreal Canadiens - visiting twice over the next three nights, the time is now to make hay and reel in the enemy.
"(Darryl) stressed there's not going to be a crazy, crazy change in the way we're playing," said Matthew Tkachuk. "It's just a matter of adjusting everything a little bit.
"At the same time, we're not in the world's greatest spot right now in the standings. Even though we might not be too far away from going in the right direction, we've got to get going and we've got to get going fast.
"There are 30 games left - it's time."
Injury update:Joakim Nordstrom (lower body) has yet to return to the ice after blocking a shot on Saturday in Edmonton.

"I'm ready to go"

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY

Back here in the Foothills, it was 9:08 p.m. MT before the puck dropped on the Coast.
Five-and-a-half hours later, while the rest of the city was deep in a slumber, the Montreal Canadiens arrived at their Calgary hotel - exhausted, but on the heels of 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Corey Perry, Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Phillip Danault had the goals, while Carey Price stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced in the victory.
"That's five or six games where we've repeated the same game every (time)," Danault said of the win. "When we come to practice, we're hard, we're sharp and we execute. That's a positive thing. ... If we play like that every game, we have a chance to win every game. That's what we did tonight and we got the win."
Price, meanwhile, has taken some heat this year, but has played vastly better under Interim Head Coach Dominique Ducharme and the recently appointed Sean Burke as the Director of Goaltending.
Coincidence?
Either way, the former Jennings and Vezina Trophy-winner is rounding back into form and has allowed only four goals on his last 106 shots.
"I think we've been a lot better in front of him," Weber said of his goalie. "At the start of the year, we were leaving him and Jake (Allen) out to dry and we got fortunate, they were bailing us out big time. I think we've improved a lot in front of him and obviously that helps him settle in a little bit."
Allen is likely to get the start tonight. He has a 4-2-3 record, along with a .921 save percentage and a 2.31 goals-against average.
As far as back-to-backs go, they don't get much tougher in this all-Canadian North Division, with a later-than-usual start time in the game city, before losing an hour on the short flight east over the Rockies.
But the Habs are on a roll now, winning two and securing points in three straight after finishing the month of February with five consecutive losses.
That's enough to wake anyone up.
"I thought it was our best game," Ducharme said of the effort in Vancouver. "I thought it was our best game. We were relentelss in what we were doing on both sides of the puck. The pace of our game ... and we made it really hard for them. We could counter, we could go (on) offence and bring our speed because we were connected. That's what we're working on and we want to be that way in all situations - a block of five with and without the puck."
Injury update: Ben Chiarot left last night's game late in the first period and did not return after a fight with Canucks forward J.T. Miller. Chiarot threw his helmet to the ground in a fit of anger as he exited the ice, indicating that something was wrong. Ducharme has confirmed that Chiarot will not be available for tonight's game.

"He's hard, but he's fair, and he's black-and-white"

3. HOW WE GOT HERE

This is the third of nine meetings, and the first of two straight between these two teams at the Scotiabank Saddledome this week.
The Canadiens opened the season series with a 4-2 victory on Jan. 28 at the Bell Centre, but the Flames roared back and delivered a 2-0 knockout only 48 hours later to even up the string.
Johnny Gaudreau and Mikael Backlund supplied the offence in that tidy, return engagement, while Jacob Markstrom stopped all 37 shots he faced to record the shutout.
Elias Lindholm leads both teams in head-to-head scoring, with three points (3A) in two games.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jonathan Drouin top the Habs with two points each (2A), while Shea Weber, Tyler Toffoli, Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson account for the goal-scoring.
Following tonight's game, the Flames and Habs will meet again on Saturday in the primetime slot on Hockey Night in Canada (5 p.m. MT, CBC/Sportsnet).

Condensed Game: Flames @ Canadiens

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Milan Lucic
Lucic is the only Flames player to have experienced the Darryl Sutter effect, firsthand, on the bench. As a member of the LA Kings in the 2015-16 season - his one and only campaign in Hollywood - the big man scored 20 goals and 55 points for Sutter's rough-and-tumble outfit, and added three helpers in five playoff dates.
You know he'll be ready to go again tonight as he looks impress the new skipper.
"I don't want to give away too many secrets about Big D, but I remember the first time I played a game for him, it was pre-season and we were playing Anaheim in LA," Lucic said. "To see how fired up he was and how much playing hard and winning meant to him - even in a pre-season game - that was definitely something that I remember.
"Just the intensity he brings to the rink every day. That's what I remember most.
"The daily grind is hard with Darryl because he expects a lot of you. … Yes, he is a 'hard-ass' and demands a lot, but when you get the result, it's worth it in the end."
Canadiens - Jeff Petry
Petry leads the Canadiens with 24 points (10G, 14A) in 25 games this year, and is on pace to establish a new career high in points, even with the 56-game schedule.
Get this: With his goal last night in Vancouver, the 33-year-old became the first Habs defenceman in more than 80 years to score 10 goals in 25 games or less. Bert Corbeau was the last to do it fastest, potting his first 10 goals in only 20 games in the 1919-20 and 1920-21 seasons. The all-time Canadiens record belongs to Georges Mantha, who, in the 1937-38 season, scored 10 goals in his first 13 games.
Petry has been a horse on the Montreal blueline all season, and was a major contributor again last night against the Canucks. In a team-high 23:28 of ice time, the veteran supplied five shots on goal - including four individual scoring chances.

5. QUOTABLE

"I have a good grasp on them in terms of system and style, that sort of thing. I think there are some areas - you can't get too deep. We have 30 games left, you can't get carried away with big changes in terms of system and personnel. You have to reinforce and get better at certain parts of the game, especially in this division."
- Head Coach Darry Sutter on what he's hoping to teach the players ahead of his debut