Instant Reaction: Flames earn a point against Montreal

First period shots were 10-9 Canadiens. Via Natural Stat Trick, 5v5 scoring chances were 7-2 Canadiens and high-dangers were 3-1 Canadiens.

The second period saw the Flames work hard but their execution falter here and there. They had a few breakdowns, particularly on the power play, and Wolf had to make a few scrambly shorthanded saves. But the Flames got more and more looks as the period wore on, and Jakub Dobes had to make a few big stops. (Give the Canadiens credit: they did a nice job largely keeping the Flames’ attackers to the outside as they pressed in the middle frame.)

Second period shots were 18-9 Flames. 5v5 scoring chances were 10-2 Flames and high-dangers were 2-0 Flames.

Wolf made several more big stops in the early parts of the third period, most impressively a toe save while doing the splits on Nick Suzuki.

The Flames tied things up midway through the third period. Morgan Frost, backchecking, poked the puck off the stick of Noah Dobson. The loose puck was collected by Adam Klapka, who fired a low shot that beat Dobes to tie the game at 1-1.

Both teams had good chances in the remainder of the period, but both netminders were rock-solid and this game required extra time.

Third period shots were 10-8 Flames.

In overtime, Ivan Demidov made an incredible pass, waiting out the Flames’ defenders and finding Mike Matheson at the far side of the Flames net. Matheson deposited the puck just over Wolf’s pad to give Montreal a 2-1 victory.

Why the Flames got a point

Let’s give credit where it’s due: this was a good road game for Montreal. They got the lead on special teams and at five-on-five they seemed perfectly content to use their in-zone structure to keep the Flames to the outside and minimize rebounds, traffic and secondary chances.

The Flames? They were fine, but they didn’t execute terribly well offensively. Their puck management improved as the game wore on and so they got more chances, but they couldn’t really translate shots and territorial advantage into a ton of really dangerous chances. Their goaltender allowed them to keep it close, though, and that gave them a chance to get a point.

Red Warrior

As per usual, it’s gotta be Dustin Wolf. But let’s give some props to MacKenzie Weegar, who led the Flames in ice time.

Turning point

We’ll cheat and go with two. The first was Wolf’s superb stop on Suzuki early in the third period to hold the score at 1-0. The second was Klapka burying his scoring chance after Montreal’s turnover to tie the game.

This and that

The start of the game was delayed by about 10 minutes due to a lighting malfunction in the Saddledome.

After Burner

Join Ryan Pinder and Robert Munnich right after the game for After Burner!

Up next

The Flames (1-6-1) are headed back on the road. They face the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.