Montreal 5, Calgary 1
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Where: Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec
Referees:
Francis Charron, Garrett Rank
Linesmen:
Ryan Gibbons, Jonny Murray
Attendance:
21288
By The Sports Xchange
MONTREAL -- Calgary Flames coach Glen Gulutzan didn't mince words when it came to assessing his team's performance against the Montreal Canadiens.
"We were pathetic," he said. "We were pathetic. It was a pathetic display. No bite-back, no kick-back, right down; our top guys didn't do anything and we need somebody to step up."
One night after dropping a 4-0 decision to the Maple Leafs in Toronto, the Flames fell flat offensively again in a 5-1 loss to the Canadiens at the Bell Centre Tuesday night. Sam Bennett scored with 1.1 seconds remaining in regulation for Calgary.
Alexander Radulov scored twice and Andrew Shaw, Tomas Plekanec and Daniel Carr also connected for the Canadiens (29-13-7), who received 30 saves from Carey Price.
Chad Johnson stopped 15 shots for the Flames (24-24-3), who dropped their fourth consecutive contest.
"It's on everybody," Kris Versteeg said of his team, which has been outscored 20-7 in the past four games. "When everyone's pretty much (expletive) throughout the lineup, you're going to get it. We're making mental errors and making mental mistakes."
The Flames had a chance to open the scoring just over a minute in when Alex Chiasson took advantage of a Nathan Beaulieu mistake just outside the Calgary blue line to break out on a 2-on-1 rush with Johnny Gaudreau. Chiasson fed Gaudreau in the slot but Price denied the Calgary sniper.
A fairly quiet opening period ended in the Canadiens' favor with 43 seconds remaining.
Sven Andrighetto went for a wraparound behind the net before dishing off to Shaw inside the right circle, who fired a shot past a screened Johnson.
It marked the ninth straight game that the Flames gave up the first goal, and the 31st time in 51 contests this season.
Plekanec put Montreal ahead by a pair with a short-handed tally at 4:53 of the second period. After Gaudreau whiffed on a pass just inside the blue line, the Canadiens center drove up the ice on a 2-on-1 and faked a pass with a simple look to his left before sending a wrister from the right dot between Johnson's legs.
The goal, the 20th short-handed marker of his career, tied him with Bob Gainey for second on the Canadiens' all-time shorthanded goals list.
"Obviously over the years I've spent a lot of time killing penalties and have gotten some opportunities offensively and score some goals," the 34-year-old said. "I'm happy it helped us to win."
Radulov's 11th of the season gave Montreal a 3-0 lead at 9:02 on the power play when he took a perfect cross-ice feed from Beaulieu and wired a shot from the circle.
The Flames had their best opportunity to get on the board shortly thereafter when two Canadiens penalties provided Calgary with a two-man advantage for 48 seconds.
"We had our windows to get back in," Gulutzan said. "We spot them one, Johnny bobbles the puck at the blue line, turns it over. ... We get a 5-on-3, broken stick, can't even muster a shot."
Carr added to the offense at 8:08 of the third period, taking a Torrey Mitchell feed for a one-timer from the circle on Montreal's second shot of the period.
Radulov notched his second of the night, again on the power play at 16:07, when he picked up a loose puck and easily lifted a backhander past Johnson.
Bennett busted Price's shutout bid on the power play with 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock.
The Canadiens weren't happy they let Calgary get on the board.
"Pricey battled hard and competed," Shaw said. "He gave us every chance to win that game and it hurts. ... Those are the opportunities that you want to battle extra hard and block a shot, even though it's 5-0."
NOTES: Montreal C Alex Galchenyuk missed the game after "lightly" re-aggravating his knee injury Saturday and remains day-to-day. ... Canadiens LW Daniel Carr replaced him in the lineup after sitting out the past five games as a healthy scratch, leaving D Ryan Johnston as the lone scratch. ... Calgary scratched C Freddie Hamilton and D Jyrki Jokipakka. ... Including Tuesday's game, the Flames are playing 10 of their next 13 games on the road.
Top Game Performances
| Calgary |
|
Montreal |
|
Sam Bennett 1 |
Points |
Alexander Radulov 2 |
|
Sam Bennett 1 |
Goals |
Alexander Radulov 2 |
|
Dougie Hamilton 1 |
Assists |
Tomas Plekanec 1 |
|
Sam Bennett 1 |
Power Play Goals |
Alexander Radulov 2 |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
Tomas Plekanec 1 |
|
Chad Johnson .750 |
Save Percentage |
Carey Price .968 |
|
Chad Johnson 15 |
Saves |
Carey Price 30 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Calgary
|
31 |
1 |
1-5 |
1-3 |
8 |
23 |
| Montreal
|
20 |
5 |
2-3 |
4-5 |
12 |
30 |
Upcoming Games
-
Montreal will play their next game on the road against NY Islanders. The Canadiens have a W/L % of .552 after a win and .650 after a loss.
-
Calgary will play their next game on the road against Ottawa. The Flames have a W/L % of .458 after a win and .481 after a loss.
For more information, contact us