Canadiens soak in fan appreciation with improved home performance in win over Flames

MONTREAL – During the first TV timeout in the third period, with the Montreal Canadiens holding a 4-1 lead and 13:45 remaining, the fans at the Bell Centre created a moment.

The entire TV timeout was filled with a wave, and as play was set to restart, the crowd started chanting ‘Ole Ole Ole.’ 

“It was a cool moment. I haven’t played in a lot of buildings where the wave’s going and it feels like someone just scored,” said Canadiens goaltender Jacob Fowler.

While Fowler was only playing his eighth career NHL game, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis has a lot more experience, and still found the moment special.

“Those are moments where you need to take it all in,” St. Louis said. “We talked about how we have to improve our home performance. I feel like we did that tonight, and our fans gave us the support back based on what we were performing. We earned it.”

Phillip Danault was on the ice as the crowd was in a frenzy. The veteran forward, acquired in a trade from the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 19, was playing his first home game since returning to the organization.

“The wave was awesome, it was electric,” Danault said. “I missed it. I missed it a lot.”

The last time Danault played a home game at the Bell Centre was Game 4 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

“Lots of memories, emotion, and obviously the fans were outstanding,” he said about returning as a home player for the Canadiens.

The biggest difference between that 2021 team and the current edition of the Canadiens is their offensive ability. 

“The mindset of the coaching staff, Marty brings a lot of plays and ideas offensively, our defence are pinching and always involved to keep the play alive, and that is what brings the offence. (The fans appreciate it) and show it, too. They’re in the game. They’re almost playing with us,” Danault said.

The Canadiens peppered Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf with 35 shots, and created scoring chances in bunches. It took until the second period to break through, but when they did, they scored three goals in just over five minutes of play.

“I really don’t think we even played that bad,” said Flames forward Joel Farabee, who scored Calgary’s lone goal. “I think it was probably just 10 minutes where we kind of lost it, and their skill guys took over. They’re a team that have a lot of skill and if you give them chances, they’re going to bury.”

“We had our fastball,” said St. Louis. “We were very connected, and we executed, and I feel like our balance was so good all over the ice that it was easy to execute. We played a very good team game tonight. For me, it means skating where you need to skate, not where you want to skate. Skating at the pace we need you to skate, not the pace that you want to skate.”

TEXIER’S BIG NIGHT

Alexandre Texier was playing his fifth game on the team’s top line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, and had two assists over those four games. On Wednesday, he scored the team’s opening goal and added two assists and was named the game’s first star.

His goal was his 100th career NHL point, making him the third French player to reach that milestone. Texier was officially named to the French Olympic team this week.

“If you play the right way, if you work hard and you’re positive no matter what, you’re going to have some results,” Texier said. “I’m pretty happy, especially here in Montreal, to get that win.”

STROMGREN’S DEBUT

Calgary’s 2021 second-round pick William Stromgren made his NHL debut on Wednesday, playing 8:04 and drawing two penalties.

“It was a great atmosphere, but our team didn’t do very well today, so not happy with the result,” he said. “It was unreal, the guys here, the building to do it in, the solo lap is always special but a loss is a loss.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 8, 2026.