1. Bonjour Montreal
The Flames are wrapping up their three-game all-Canadian road swing this evening when they take on the Canadiens at the Bell Centre at 5 p.m. MT (Sportsnet West, Sportsnet 960) and are looking to close out this journey on the right note.
Calgary picked up a point in Toronto on Friday note but ultimately dropped the decision 5-4 in a shootout and fell 4-1 to the Senators on Saturday night. While the results are not what they would have liked, there were bright spots in both games that give the club a boost heading into this evening's contest.
"I think there’s still some momentum for us, we had a tough period in the third period in Ottawa but other than that, we did some good things in the first two periods," head coach Ryan Huska said of the trip. "Three of our last four games, we feel like we’ve played well, we’ve given ourselves chances; there’s been moments or lapses within those games that we have to eliminate from our play, but now it’s shifting gears, again, and getting ourselves ready and excited for (tonight)."
One of the biggest positive factors in the club's last handful of games is the play of their youngsters. Connor Zary has meshed seamlessly into a top-six role since he was recalled from the Calgary Wranglers, scoring two goals and four points through his first five games in the league. Martin Pospisil has also been an impact player since his recall and has played a key role in both road games with a goal that sent Friday's tilt into extra time and a beautiful dish to Blake Coleman to get the Flames on the board in Ottawa.
The pair of rookies skated on a line together during Monday's practice, with veteran Nazem Kadri centering them, and could start tonight's match-up playing together.
Another bright spot comes in the form of Jacob Markstrom, who fully took part in practice on Monday. The netminder has been out of the lineup since last Tuesday with a minor injury but could return this evening.
"It was good," Markstrom said after the skate. "Obviously, it’s always frustrating when you’re not practicing, and you’re not playing games with the guys. It’s been a few days since I had a practice with the team, since we played back-to-back, but it was good to be out there. Body feels good."
The Flames spent a good deal of time working on their powerplay during Monday's practice, trying out a couple of new units.
"We're trying to find something that works but I think it's more about finding an identity for it too," Huska said. "So we're trying to get it be a little quicker with what it's doing, a little bit more aggressive with shooting the puck.
"We've got to continue to work on it and I think that's always something that needs to be touched on and dealt with every day. Once you get yourself to the point where everybody understands what they're looking to do, it becomes a little bit more predictable to each other, then it will start gaining some traction."
