FGD 36: Home for the holidays with the Habs (7pm MT, SN West)

The holiday season is one meant to be spent with loved ones. For the Calgary Flames (18-14-3), they’re closing out their pre-Christmas schedule against one of their most storied rivals, the Montreal Canadiens (15-15-4). The Habs haven’t played amazingly well this season, alternately dealing with injuries and overall team inconsistency. They begin a Western road trip against a Flames club that’s feeling pretty good about themselves after two big wins (and several weeks of pretty strong play).

The puck drops at 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet 960 The Fan and Sportsnet West.

Last night’s lines, courtesy of Daily Faceoff:

Mike Smith starts for the 31st time. He’s 14-11-3 with a 2.55 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. He’s backed up by David Rittich. Rasmus Andersson and Curtis Lazar are tonight’s healthy scratches, while Jaromir Jagr  and Travis Hamonic are both day-to-day with lower-body injuries. (Jagr’s on the active roster still, though.) Matt Bartkowski plays for the first time since Nov. 25, Freddie Hamilton for the first time since Dec. 7.

The Flames didn’t score on the power play against St. Louis, but they had a lot of shots. Shots are good, but grade-A scoring chances are better. The two units will need to keep plugging away, because in the last game they had a lot of the same problems that the previous units had – but at least they were able to gain the zone with regularity. Baby steps.

Johnny Gaudreau had no points in his last game, but he still has 40 points and is a stone’s throw away from the league lead. Three years ago, he had a hat trick on the last game before Christmas.

Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:

Carey Price starts in net. He’s 10-10-2 with a 3.09 goals against average and a .903 save percentage. He’s backed up by Antti Niemi. Brett Lernout and Jacob de la Rose are their extra healthy bodies.

Montreal has been idle since beating Vancouver in a track meet on Tuesday night by a 7-5 score. They scored twice on the power play, allowed two power play goals, and managed to out-score Vancouver 4-3 at even strength. The challenge against Montreal is probably keeping their speed contained. They’re not a great defensive team, but they still have some dangerous players up-front.

As important prep for tonight’s game, be sure to check out the seminal short film from the National Film Board: The Sweater.

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

Montreal: Ales Hemsky (upper-body), Al Montoya (upper-body), Artturi Lehkonen (lower-body) and Shea Weber (foot) are on the injured reserve.

This is the second and final meeting between these clubs this season. The Flames beat Montreal 3-2 in overtime two weeks ago.

Here are some nice folks who will discuss the Habitants tonight:

The Flames finish off their pre-Christmas schedule with their final game with the Canadiens of the season. The points available in this game could be invaluable down the line in a very competitive Pacific Division playoff race.