The Montreal Canadiens and Calgary Flames are in a similar situation as they get ready to face each other Saturday in Calgary.
Both squads are in the dogfight for a playoff spot now that the trade deadline is in the past and both are coming off an extra-time road defeat.
Montreal suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, a game in which the Canadiens twice erased a one-goal deficit to earn a single point in the standings.
“That was a big point,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “We played extremely well and it was nothing perfect, but we played with the right intentions, we played with conviction. The guys fought; it could have went either way. We got our chances to get the two points; it just didn’t happen, but I loved the way we played.”
It snapped a five-game winning streak that vaulted the Canadians into the Eastern Conference’s logjam of teams vying for the pair of wild-card positions, joining the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ottawa Senators, New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.
Neither team made a trade-deadline day move on Friday.
The Canadiens last made the playoffs in 2021, when they reached the Stanley Cup Final, but have finished at the bottom of the division the last three seasons.
Some would say being in the playoff mix at this point is an achievement, but the club is looking for more.
“It was a huge point, but not really satisfied with that,” said forward Cole Caufield, whose goal extended his point streak to six games (five goals, two assists). “Leon (Draisaitl) scored, and Connor (McDavid) makes a play in OT. They’re good players, we limited their chances, but at the end of the day, they find a way.”
The Flames return home after Thursday’s 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars to end a six-game road swing, a clash in which they surrendered a 2-0 lead, including a one-goal edge in the third period.
Amid the disappointment, the Flames could see a positive.
“We played a good game. … I thought we did a really good job right away,” captain Mikael Backlund said. “We played a solid game all night. … It’s a tough one, but we have to move on. Tomorrow is a new day, and we have to focus on the next game and try to win that one.”
Looking at it with the glass half-empty, the Flames have only one win in five outings. Looking at that glass half-full, Calgary ended a difficult six-game run — five of those opponents are in the top eight of the league standings — with a 2-2-2 mark and sitting in the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot.
With 20 games remaining in the regular season, the Flames are surprisingly in the playoff mix, but like the Canadiens, looking for more.
“We need more than .500 the rest of the way. I feel like if we are going to get ourselves to where we want to be, but these were tough teams that we played,” coach Ryan Huska said.
“There was a lot of miles put on this trip for us, and for the last game of the trip to play against a team of their quality I was pleased with the guys’ preparation and their work ethic, so we will take it. Now the most important game of the year becomes our next one.”
–Field Level Media
