5 THINGS - FLAMES @ CANADIENS

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GAME DAY VIDEO
Game Day with Brendan Parker
Pre-Game: Darryl Sutter
GAME DAY FEATURES
Storybook Ending - Flames Edge Leafs
COMING SOON: Projected Lineup
STAT PACK
Head-to-Head Stats
Media Game Notes
Scoring Leaders
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Leading Scorers:
Flames:
Points - Elias Lindholm (36)
Goals - Johnny Gaudreau (15)
Canadiens:
Points - Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Petry (30)
Goals - Toffoli (19)
Special Teams:
Flames:
PP - 20.4% (16th) / PK - 80.6% (13th)
Canadiens:
PP - 20.6% (15th) / PK - 76.7% (24th)
Advanced Stats:
Flames:
Shot Attempts: 52.13% (8th)
High-Danger Chances: 50.47% (13th)
Canadiens:
Shot Attempts: 55.47% (7th)
High-Danger Chances: 55.63% (4th)

1. ABOUT LAST NIGHT

It doesn't get much better than that.
With Milan Lucic playing in his 1,000th career game, and the Flames waltzing into the lion's den with their playoff hopes hinging on this critical, three-game road trip, you couldn't have asked for a better showing.
Johnny Gaudreau scored the overtime winner only 36 seconds into the extra frame as the Flames knocked off the Maple Leafs 3-2 at Scotiabank Arena.
Elias Lindholm sprung Gaudreau on a breakaway and he made no mistake with a fancy, forehand deke - beating his former teammate, David Rittich, around the right pad.
"I don't know," Gaudreau paused, then shrugged when asked if Rittich had seen that move before. "We had a couple shootouts the past few practices before the deadline there, so I scored a couple on him and felt comfortable there.
"I don't normally go to my forehand, so I think I fooled him a bit."
Vintage Johnny Hockey.

Lindholm and Juuso Valimaki had the markers in regulation, while Jacob Markstrom - following up a 17-save shutout on Saturday over the Oilers - made 21 stops in the victory.
"Once (Lindholm) makes that pass through to Johnny, he's almost automatic when he gets chances like that," said Lucic, who had a night to remember - feeding Valimaki for the game's opening marker, and then fighting Leafs forward Scott Sabourin later in the first, falling one goal short of a Gordie Howe hat-trick in his milestone game.
"I wish I didn't miss the net on the shift before the fight or else I would have had the Gordie in three shifts.
"It would have been nice, obviously - would have been a cool storyline. But personally, it's a great achievement and it makes it that much better to get the win."
In the end, that's all that matters.
The Flames played one of their best games of the season, limiting the potent Leafs offence to a meager 13 shots through two periods, and killing off a crucial, four-minute powerplay late in the third period, before going back on the assault.
"Just looking at (the playoff race) we need to take it game-by-game," Gaudreau said. "We know we have an uphill battle to try and make the playoffs here. To get two wins against Edmonton, Toronto, two of the more skilled teams in the North Division... and now we have an opportunity to play against the Canadiens five times and we think we've put ourselves in a good spot to climb out of this.
"But, it's one game at a time and our focus is on the one game against Montreal (tonight).

2. KNOW YOUR ENEMY

That's what they call stopping the bleeding.
The Habs knocked off the Buds 4-2 on Monday, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Tomas Tatar scored a pair, while Nick Suzuki and Josh Anderson added singles, and Jake Allen made 23 saves.
"It was very important, especially after the last game (a 5-0 home loss to Winnipeg)," said Anderson, who has 15 goals in 36 games this year. "It wasn't fair that Jake went through that really by himself. He was outstanding and we really wanted to come in tonight, set the pace, and start the first period the right way. I thought we did that. Obviously, they made a good push in the second, but I thought that we did a lot of good things."
With star goalie Carey Price back nursing an injury (although he is making progress and should be back soon), Allen has carried the lead for the Habs and has been excellent. With Monday's victory, he now has a 6-6-4 record, along with a .912 save percentage and a 2.49 goals-against average.
However, the run support has been lacking.
On Monday, the Habs were able to give their goalie the kind of performance he deserved in front of him.
"It was important to rebound," said Phillip Danault, who's taken a big step and elevated his game in the absence of the injured Brendan Gallagher. "We showed a lot of character tonight. I thought we were a bit hesitant in the second period, but we figured things out and won our battles. It's a big character win for our team. Jake made big saves for us. He gave us a chance to win."
The Canadiens made a pair of deals before Monday's trade deadline, bolstering their blueline with the additions of Jon Merrill (from Detroit) and former Flame Erik Gustafsson (from Philadelphia). Both players are currently in quarantine and will not be available until next week, when the Habs embark on a five-game trip that includes three games against the Flames.
Speaking of the backend…
Habs defenceman Ben Chiarot - who's missed the past 14 games with a broken hand - is nearing a return. He was back on the ice for practice on Tuesday and, according to Montreal Head Coach Dominique Ducharme, it's no longer a question of "weeks," but "days."
In other injury news, Joel Armia will return tonight after missing eight games due to a bout with COVID-19.
"He's excellent at protecting the puck," Ducharme said. "He can make plays and he's a physical presence. He's a player we believe in. We're happy to see him back in the lineup."
Armia will skate on a line with Nick Suzuki and Tyler Toffoli.

3. FAB FIVE

These final five head-to-head meetings have loomed large in the background.
If the Flames are going to narrow the gap and make a legitimate push for the playoffs, they need to make these ones count. They're currently six points out with 14 games to go, and the Habs have three games in hand.
By the time the series wraps up in a little under two weeks, we'll have a pretty good idea of who's going to the dance.
Including tonight, the two teams meet twice this week at the Bell Centre, with the final three encounters playing out at the Scotiabank Saddledome on April 23, 24 and 26.

4. PLAYERS TO WATCH

Flames - Elias Lindholm
Lindholm has a way of quietly putting up points. But there was nothing quiet about the way he played last night.
Lindholm scored and set up Gaudreau's game winner with a beautiful pass to spring No. 13 on a breakaway. Not only did he start the breakout and push the Toronto players back in a defensive posture, but he skillfully corralled a bouncing puck inside the offensive blueline before dishing the biscuit through the feet of Morgan Rielly.
Lindholm now has back-to-back two-point efforts, and enters tonight's game leading the Flames with 36 points (11G, 25A) in 42 games.
Canadiens - Tyler Toffoli
Toffoli leads the Canadiens with 19 tucks this year, but is goalless in his last five.
For a player that shoots the puck a lot and has a 10.8 career shooting percentage (17 this year), you can bet he'll be looking to get more involved around the net, with only three shots in his last two games.

5. QUOTABLE

Milan Lucic on how his fight with Scott Sabourin transpired:
"Same sort of thing [as my first-career fight with Brad Winchester]. It was funny, when I saw he (Sabourin) was in the lineup, I knew there was probably 100% chance he was going to ask me to fight."
On skating a solo lap prior to warmup;
"It was something that me and G (Giordano) talked about last night. It wasn't really a thing when I was a rookie to get the single lap, so I never got to do it. I thought no better time to do it than tonight."