GAME PREVIEW: Calgary Flames vs. Montreal Canadiens

Tyler Toffoli and his surging Calgary Flames  (32-14-6, 55 pts) face his former club, the Montreal Canadiens (13-34-7, 33 pts) Thursday night.

There’s a real side story with the Canadiens and Toffoli meeting quickly after the Valentine’s Day deal brought the highly coveted NHL trade piece to Calgary a couple of weeks ago. It’ll be an emotional game for Toffoli and many Canadiens players. He was a popular leadership figure in the room and a great influence on youngsters Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki.

Jacob Markstrom is getting his seventh straight start for the Flames. He’s is 25-11-5 this season with a 2.10 GAA and a .927 save percentage.

Andrew Hammond is expected to get the start for the Canadiens, after coming into the last game in relief of Samuel Montembeault. So far this season, the Hamburglar has gone 2-0-0 and put up a  1.72 GAA and a .939 save percentage.

Calgary Flames Notes

Tyler Toffoli has been a great addition to the Flames, posting seven points in his last seven games since the trade.

Elias Lindholm is one of the league’s hottest goal scorers, potting 10 goals in his last 12 games.

Montreal Canadiens Notes

Cole Caufield has continued to roll offensively for the Canadiens, posting 11 points in his last 9 games.

Josh Anderson has been a scoring machine lately, potting 6 goals in his last 5 games.

Calgary Flames Lines:

Forwards

Johnny Gaudreau- Elias Lindholm-Matthew Tkachuk

Andrew Mangiapane-Mikael Backlund-Blake Coleman

Milan Lucic-Sean Monahan-Tyler Toffoli

Trevor Lewis-Brad Richardson-Brett Ritchie

Defence

Noah Hanifin-Rasmus Andersson

Oliver Kylington-Chris Tanev

Nikita Zadorov-Erik Gudbranson

Goalies

Jacob Markstrom

Daniel Vladar

Montreal Canadiens Lines:

Forwards

Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman – Laurent Dauphin – Brendan Gallagher

Rem Pitlick – Jake Evans- Artturi Lehkonen

Joel Armia – Ryan Poehling – Micheal Pezzetta

Defence:

Alexander Romanov – Ben Chiarot

Brett Kulak-Jeff Petry

Corey Schueneman-Chris Wideman

Goalies:

Andrew Hammond

Sam Montembeault