Playoff hopes stay alive with win over the Habs
Flames triumph in first of three straight must-win outings against Canadiens
The Calgary Flames desperately need to sweep this three-game home set against the Montreal Canadiens.
Nothing short of a hat trick of victories will do as they scrap to stay relevant in the playoff race. This is a solid start.
The Flames deserve full marks for Friday's 4-2 triumph at the Saddledome, taking care of business in the first of three straight must-wins.
It's an important step, but it won't mean much unless they can repeat the feat twice more before the Habs leave town.
“Just take it as a game at a time. No sense in looking ahead,” cautioned Flames winger Andrew Mangiapane after a two-point effort.
“Obviously, everyone knows what situation we're in — we have to make up ground and we're trying to catch these guys. So every game is key.”
Friday started with uncertainty — the locals called off their morning skate after a player tested positive for COVID-19 — but the Flames delivered the sort of plucky performance that they needed despite the concerns about one of their pals, later revealed to be right-winger Josh Leivo, and the forced alterations to their pre-game routine.
A familiar combination hooked up for the winning goal, with Johnny Gaudreau spying Sean Monahan as he cruised into the slot and his former sidekick finding twine with a quick fire.
Dillon Dube and Mangiapane also scored and Elias Lindholm added a late empty-netter for the hosts, who dressed only 11 forwards but benefited from some time-tested chemistry when Gaudreau and Monahan — split as linemates a couple of weeks back — connected for that clutch cash in the third period.
Just like old times.
“I threw it down low to Johnny and when both D take a peek at him quick, if you're open, he's going to find you,” Monahan said of that sweet feed from behind the goal-line. “And that's what happened.
“He's probably given me 150 of those, so I'm pretty used to that. We've played together for years. When you're out there together, you expect to get looks and you have to expect to put the puck in the net.”
With Friday's victory, the Flames are now six points back of the fourth-place Canadiens in their long-shot quest to swipe the final playoff spot in the NHL'S North Division.
If the Saddledome-dwellers can also win Saturday's rematch — the puck drops at 5 p.m. MT — and Monday's match, they'll be just two behind, although the Habs will have one game in hand.
Dube put the first ink on Friday's stat-sheet, finally snapping out of a 14-game goal-scoring drought with a one-timer from the slot.
There were a lot of stick-taps to go around on that slump-busting bury, with Chris Tanev holding the blueline, Derek Ryan winning a puck battle along the boards and then Mangiapane providing a nifty backhand setup.
The Habs then pulled ahead on a couple of blocker-side strikes — Tyler Toffoli from the high slot and Joel Armia through a screen after a faceoff win — before the home-side pulled even in the final minute of the opening period on a dandy deflection by Mangiapane, who rerouted Noah Hanifin's wrister right under the crossbar for a power-play marker.
POSITIVE TEST
The Flames have been talking all week about the magnitude of these matchups against the Canadiens.
For several hours Friday, it wasn't the standings they were most worried about.
The Flames cancelled their morning skate `as a precaution' after Thursday's testing results revealed that a player — later identified as Leivo — was positive for COVID-19.
The team announced in that same release that the affected individual was isolating and all other skaters and staff had tested negative.
Shortly before 3 p.m. MT, with many wondering if this crucial contest would be postponed, the Flames confirmed on social media that the game was a go.
“You never want a guy on your team to get sick or injured or anything like that,” Monahan said after the victory. “It sucks (Leivo) is not here today with us but he's going to be all right, I think.
“It was a strange day. We didn't know what was going on but we're told what to do, and we were getting ready all day to play a game and it ended up working out.”
Flames coach Darryl Sutter told reporters that he chatted with Leivo by phone prior to puck-drop and that the 27-yearold does not have any symptoms.
This is the first confirmed case in Calgary's locker-room this season. Because Leivo was on the ice for Thursday's team practice, there must have initially been fear that others could have been exposed.
Players, coaches and support-staffers are tested at the rink every day, and it's logical to assume there were no additional positives in Friday's batch.