FGD 29: A jaunt to Montreal (5:30pm MT, SN West)

The Calgary Flames (14-12-2) had a pretty uninspiring homestand, though their last game against the Philadelphia Flyers saw them play pretty well. The Flames flirted with consistency last night as they outshot Toronto en route to a very close 2-1 shootout loss. They finish off their short road trip tonight as they visit the Montreal Canadiens (13-13-3) for their only trip to Quebec of the season.

The puck drops at 5:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet 960 The Fan and Sportsnet West.

Last night’s lines, courtesy of Daily Faceoff:

After Mike Smith faced 29 shots in Toronto, David Rittich gets the start in Montreal. He’s 1-1-0 with a 3.03 goals against average and .875 save percentage in roughly four and a half periods of action since being recalled from Stockton. This is the type of situation he was brought up for.

After last night, it’s not clear if Jaromir Jagr’s lower-body injury will allow him to play, nor is it clear if Matthew Tkachuk will be fined or suspended for spearing Matt Martin from the bench – Tkachuk has a phone hearing this afternoon, which suggests short suspension or a fine. The extras last night were Matt Bartkowski and Freddie Hamilton, so potentially there could be some minor roster tweaks.

Edit: Tkachuk received a one-game suspension for his troubles. Brouwer filled in on the 3M line last time Tkachuk was suspended.

The Flames have generated a ton of shots over the last two games, but only three goals. They’ll need to figure out a way to get into the high-danger scoring chance areas more often, but they’ve definitely generated a lot more chances and shots at even strength than they have in awhile.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Carey Price starts for the Habs. He’s 8-8-1 with a 3.00 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. He hasn’t been great, but he’s better than backup Antti Niemi, who’s actively bad and has somehow played for three different teams this year despite posting ugly, ugly numbers. Blueliners Jakub Jerabek and Joe Morrow are the extra bodies for the Habs, who are technically in an emergency roster situation right now as they had to recall Daniel Carr to ice four full forward lines. Jonathan Drouin skated this morning and could play, though.

Montreal’s been all over the place this year. Between lots of injuries and lots of inconsistency all around their team, they’re barely keeping their heads above water. Hopefully ex-Flames David Schlemko and waiver king Paul Byron can set them straight.

Flames: Daniel Pribyl (knee) and Kris Versteeg (hip) are on the injured reserve. Jaromir Jagr (lower-body) is day-to-day.

Montreal: Nikita Scherbak (lower-body), Ales Hemsky (upper-body), Al Montoya (upper-body) and Artturi Lehkonen (lower-body) are on the injured reserve. Jonathan Drouin (lower-body) is day-to-day.

This is the first of two meetings this season between these old rivals. Each team won the game they hosted last season. They face each other again in Calgary on Dec. 22.

Here are some Canadiens accounts:

The Flames try to get points in multiple games as they face a Canadiens club that is a model of inconsistency, not unlike the Flames themselves.