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At this pivotal juncture of the regular season, there are no small victories. That being said, It would be hard to understate the importance Friday night’s 2-1 win by the Montreal Canadiens over the Calgary Flames. For the standings and their sanity, the Habs simply could not let this 6 à 8 at the Bell Centre slip between their fingers. The regulation win reestablished their six point lead for the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division, while retaining three games in hand.
The Canadiens have had a miserable time solving Flames netminder Jacob Markstrom this season. The big free agent signing entered the contest undefeated against the Habs in four games, stopping 104 of 107 shots in the process. It wasn’t much, but two goals from Tyler Toffoli, mired in his first mini-funk in bleu-blanc-rouge, was all Habs goalie Jake Allen needed. After losing in a valiant effort on Wednesday, Allen bested his counterpart Friday with a 28-save performance.