Joel Farabee’s lone goal sealed a 1-0 victory for the Calgary Flames against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night in Calgary, Alberta. Adding to the team’s triumph, goaltender Dustin Wolf was instrumental with 26 saves, propelling the Flames back into a playoff position within the Western Conference, clinching the second wild-card spot. This win nudged them a point ahead of the inactive Vancouver Canucks.
The Montreal Canadiens faced a setback as they were shut out for the fourth time this season. Prior to this loss, they had been riding a high streak, accumulating points in six consecutive games with a strong (5-0-1) record. For Wolf, this shutout marked his third and boosted his stats to 22-12-4, while also establishing a 3-0-0 career record against Montreal.
Montreal’s Jakub Dobes, on his end, managed 23 saves during the match. However, the Canadiens couldn’t find the net. Cole Caufield emerged as Montreal’s standout player, leading both teams with six shots on goal. Despite his efforts and a close call hitting the crossbar off a pass from Lane Hutson, Caufield couldn’t convert any opportunity into a goal. This result broke his streak, ending a four-game goal streak and a six-game point streak.
The Flames, who have struggled offensively this season with the lowest goals-per-game average in the NHL at 2.58, initially appeared to continue that trend. Surprisingly, they outshot Montreal 9-4 in the first period. Yegor Sharangovich had potential scoring chances, but both his shot and the subsequent rebound were stopped by Dobes.
Patience paid off for Calgary more than halfway through the game when Farabee scored his 11th goal of the season. Teamed up with Mikael Backlund, Farabee capitalized on a give-and-go play, skilfully maneuvering the puck past Dobes.
Remarkable defensive play was a highlight for the Flames, who successfully killed off all of Montreal’s power plays, maintaining a flawless penalty kill streak of 17-for-17 in the last five games.
Looking ahead, the Canadiens will travel to Vancouver to play against the Canucks on Tuesday, while the Flames are set to face the same team at home on Wednesday.
