loss

Not the start the Flames wanted on this five-game road trip.
The Canadiens scored a pair of powerplay goals in the first and added two more markers in the second en route to a 4-2 victory in their home-opener at the Bell Centre Thursday.
Calgary scored two late in the third.
With the loss, the Flames have dropped three straight and fall to 2-3-1 on the season.

David Rittich got his first start of the season, Jacob Markstrom serving as the backup after playing the Flames first five games. He made 17 saves on the night.
After Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Maple Leafs where the Flames were outshot 10-1 and trailed 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes, the team - to a man - were all singing from the same song sheet: They had to be better in the first period and show up 'on time.'
Mission accomplished, as they played with pace early, generating a few good chances in the opening minutes - including one by Andrew Mangiapane that Carey Price kicked out a pad to stop.
Juuso Valimaki was called for a hook at 8:13, putting the spotlight on Calgary's PK, which was ranked 12th coming into the tilt.
They were aggressive early and kept the Habs from getting set up, but near the end of the advantage, Corey Perry got the puck down low beside the net and made a no-look backhand pass to Brendan Gallagher, who scored his third of the season.
The Flames next great crack came courtesy of Josh Leivo, who sent a cross-ice pass to Elias Lindholm on the backdoor but he wasn't able to get all of the bouncing puck and missed wide.
Later in the shift, Lindholm was whistled for hooking Jonathan Drouin, sending Montreal back to the PP.
They made good again.
Canadiens captain Shea Weber scored, stepping into a slapshot from the flank that deflected off the stick of Valimaki and went high, shortside past Rittich.
Johnny Gaudreau - who had two goals in the Flames 4-3 loss to Toronto on Tuesday and came into the tilt leading Calgary with four tallies this season - rang one off the bar from a tight angle before the period ended, inches away from putting the visitors on the board.
Big Save Dave reminded everyone why he has that moniker, coming across to stop two great shots from Gallagher six minutes into the second period.
The Canadiens made it 3-0 at 8:21 off a 2-on-1 rush, Rittich stopping Jesperi Kotkaniemi's shot but Josh Anderson whacking the rebound out of the air into the wide-open net.
Tyler Toffoli - the Canadiens leading scorer - made it 4-0 with a shorthanded marker, his sixth of the season, in the final minute of the second, scoring on a breakaway by somehow getting a bouncing puck under Rittich.
The Flames got a pair late in the third when Sam Bennett's shot was tipped by Milan Lucic. Montreal challenged saying the play was offside, but after review the officials disagreed.

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      CGY@MTL: Lucic beats Price for power-play goal

      After losing the challenge, Calgary got a powerplay and Rasmus Andersson scored five-hole with his second of the season.

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          CGY@MTL: Andersson beats Price with heavy slap shot

          THEY SAID IT:

          Head coach Geoff Ward with his thoughts:
          "I think teams go through it. It probably would have been easier for us if we wouldn't have lost the previous two games to generate some emotion if we came in off a couple of wins or a win. There are fits in starts in the season and depending on what your record is like, or how things are going, it can certainly generate or take away from the emotional balance of your team. The emotion, too, comes from how hard you compete and that's certainly a big factor as well."
          Sean Monahan on the loss:
          "I just think we lacked some emotion. You need to be invested emotionally in games and when that's not there, it's tough to get momentum."

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              "I just think we lacked some emotion"

              More on the night:
              "I don't know. I think it's been there and tonight we took our foot off the gas a little bit. We've got a good team and we've got to play 60 minutes every night, and when you do that, it's contagious. Guys feed off it and that's when you win games."
              Lindholm on the contest:
              "I think we all can be better. When things aren't going our way in the first period, it doesn't look good for us and we stopped playing a little bit and didn't play the way we did in the first. We can all be better and push each other on the bench, and that's got to start the next game here."

              ONE-TIMERS:

              Dillon Dubesat out this tilt as he continues to be sidelined by injury ... The Flames announced earlier THursday a provisional relocation of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Stockton Heat, to Calgary for the 2020-21 season due to cross border travel restrictions as a result of COVID-19.
              Clock for more info
              ... Matthew Tkachuk and captain Mark Giordanoare each one game away from a major milestone. If all goes as planned, Tkachuk will play game No. 300 and Giordano will play game No.900 on Saturday in Montreal ... Monahan is four goals shy of hitting 200 for his career.

              THE LINEUP:

              \ To start the game*
              Lines:
              Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Dominik Simon
              Matthew Tkachuk - Elias Lindholm - Josh Leivo
              Sam Bennett - Mikael Backlund - Andrew Mangiapane
              Milan Lucic - Derek Ryan - Joakim Nordstrom
              D Pairings:
              Mark Giordano - Rasmus Andersson
              Noah Hanifin - Chris Tanev
              Juuso Valimaki - Nikita Nesterov
              Goaltenders
              David Rittich - starter
              Jacob Markstrom

              UP NEXT:

              These two clubs meet again Saturday (5 p.m., TV: HNIC, Radio: Sortsnet 960 The FAN), before the Flames fly to Winnipeg for three tilts against the Jets (Feb. 1, 2 & 4).