Canadiens at Flames
THE STORY: The Montreal Canadiens travel to Calgary to begin a
west coast trip and take on the Flames on Tuesday. It is the second and
final meeting of the season between the Canadian foes. Mikka Kiprusoff
made 35 saves to backstop Calgary to a 4-1 victory in the previous
meeting Oct. 13 and became the franchise’s all-time leader in wins by a
goaltender. Both teams are struggling, losing six of their last seven
games.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, RDS, TSN-Habs (Canadiens), SNET-W (Flames)
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (25-31-10): The Canadiens begin a four-game road
swing with stops in Edmonton, Vancouver and Buffalo to follow. Montreal
is last in the Eastern Conference thanks to a 5-8-1 record in February,
but received some good news Monday regarding defenseman Andrei Markov.
“I cleared for contact, so I’m just happy to practice with the team,”
said the longest-serving Canadien on the current roster. The 33-year-old
has been out since undergoing knee surgery at the beginning of the
season.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (29-25-12): The Flames sit three
points behind the San Jose Sharks for the eighth and final playoff spot
in the Western Conference. Forward Mike Cammalleri won’t play against
his former club Tuesday because of an undisclosed injury he suffered in
Sunday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars. He has been centering a
line with Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay and has five goals and 11
points in 21 games since being acquired Jan. 12 from Montreal. Calgary
is already without forwards Blake Comeau, Mikael Backlund, Blair Jones
and Lee Stempniak, as well as defenseman Chris Butler because of
injuries.
OVERTIME:
1. The Flames recalled forwards Guillaume Desbiens,
Krys Kolanos and Greg Nemisz from the Abbotsford Heat (AHL) for
Tuesday’s game.
2. Kiprusoff and Carey Price enter Tuesday tied
for third among NHL goalies with 57 games played. Kiprusoff is on pace
to surpass 70 games for the seventh consecutive season. Price eclipsed
the mark for the first time last season.
3. Canadiens forward David Desharnais has three goals and four assists during his current four-game point streak.