General Talk » hat Nelson Cruz is in a good place. Great

Mike Cammalleri faces the Canadiens for the first time since the team traded him to Calgary over two years ago as Montreal hosts the Flames tonight at Bell Centre. Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN Canadiens at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The game can also be heard on TSN Radio Montreal 690. The Calgary Flames will see if they can take their recent hot streak on the road when they shoot for a sixth consecutive win Monday night in Montreal. The Flames went 5-0 during a recent residency at the Saddledome, sweeping a five-game homestand for the first time since Feb. 7-15, 1997. The hot stretch at home came just two weeks after the Flames set a franchise record by losing seven straight in their own building. Calgary, however, has lost three straight and eight of its last 10 on the road, but the Flames hope to pick up an away win when they visit the Canadiens tonight at the Bell Centre. The Flames are just 9-13-4 as the guest this season, and despite the recent surge, the club is still 14 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference. Calgary is beginning a three-game swing on Tuesday. The Flames will visit the New York Islanders on Thursday before playing their last game before the Olympic break Saturday in Philadelphia. Calgary capped its perfect homestand on Saturday by picking up a 4-3 overtime win against Minnesota. The Flames carried a 2-1 lead into the third and built a 3-1 cushion just a minute into the period before the Wild scored twice over the final 10 minutes of regulation to send the game to OT. Mikael Backlund scored the game-winner in overtime for Calgary, giving him two goals on the night. T.J. Galiardi added a goal and an assist for the Flames and Dennis Wideman also lit the lamp. The Flames did lose goaltender Karri Ramo to a sprained medial collateral ligament on Saturday, as he left the game late in the first period and did not return. Reto Berra stopped 14-of-17 shots in relief. Ramo will miss his teams final three games before the Olympics and the Flames have recalled goaltender Joni Ortio from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League to assist Berra with the netminding duties. "Reto (Berra) gets the start in Montreal," Flames coach Bob Hartley said. "He came in big for us last game. We have three games left. Were in the business of playing the ones who perform." The Canadiens enter this evenings test having lost two straight at the start of a four-game homestand. Montreal, which has dropped four of six overall, was handed a 2-1 overtime setback by Tampa Bay on Saturday and lost by the same score in regulation the next day versus Winnipeg. Michael Frolik scored the winner in the third period and Al Montoya made 30 saves to help the Jets down the Habs. Brian Gionta scored the only goal and Carey Price allowed both goals on 33 shots for the Canadiens. "We were intense today and hit two posts, but Montoya made some good key saves," said Montreal head coach Michel Therrien. "Sure we would like to score more goals, but I liked the intensity we showed today." Montreal is currently holding onto the seventh of eight playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. The Habs are two points in front of Detroit and Philadelphia for that distinction and Montreal is two in back of Toronto for third place in the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens pulled off a minor trade on Monday, acquiring forward Dale Weise from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for defenseman Raphael Diaz. Montreal general manager Marc Bergevin said Weise "brings additional toughness and grit to our group of forwards." Weise, 25, had three goals, nine assists and 65 hits in 44 games for the Canucks this season. For his career, he has totaled 10 goals, 16 assists and 185 penalty minutes in 162 games with the New York Rangers and Canucks. The 28-year-old Diaz posted 11 assists and blocked 100 shots in 46 games with the Canadiens in 2013-14. The Swiss native has four goals and 37 helpers in 128 career games, all with Montreal. Including this evenings test, the Canadiens have three games left before the NHL goes on hiatus for the Winter Olympics. Montreal is set to complete its four-game stay at the Bell Centre on Thursday against Vancouver before visiting Carolina on Saturday. The Canadiens, who are 15-10-4 as the host this season, have lost two of their last three home games against the Flames, although the clubs last met in Montreal on Oct. 13, 2011 when Calgary notched a 4-1 triumph. The Flames have taken four in a row in this series and boast a 7-0-1 record in their last eight tilts against Montreal. Cheap Avalanche Jerseys China . Blackhawks RW Patrick Kane came up big when it counted, tallying two goals and an assist. He scored the game-winner with 4:45 remaining in the third period, stopping on the right hashmarks, carrying the puck up through the top of the Kings zone, then firing a wrist shot from the top of the circles past Jonathan Quick, who had his view obstructed by Andrew Shaw. Cheap Avalanche Jerseys Authentic . The International Ice Hockey Federation says Pavlovs avoided a two-year sanction because he acted "without significant negligence in failing to verify the safety of the supplements he was taking. http://www.cheapavalanchejerseys.com/. However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Cheap Colorado Avalanche Jerseys . Not that Durant cared. The only streak he cares about is still intact. Wholesale Avalanche Jerseys . THE THUNDER & PACERS BENCHES: In a nutshell, not impressive at all.HOUSTON -- Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said after Saturdays game against Houston that Nelson Cruz is in a good place. Great or excellent would be more fitting adjectives to describe how the first-year Orioles star is playing. Cruz hit his major league-leading 20th home run and drove in three runs to back a solid start by Chris Tillman, and the Orioles snapped a four-game skid with a 4-1 win over the Astros. "Nelson is letting the ball travel and letting it get deep," Showalter said. "Hes come in with a reputation of being streaky and I dont think Ive ever seen him locked in for this long a period of time. A lot of guys at his age start figuring out who they are and learning from their mistakes through the years in more ways than one." Cruz was suspended 50 games last year while playing for the Texas Rangers as a result of Major League Baseballs investigation into the Biogenesis drug scandal before signing a one-year deal with the Orioles this off-season. He agreed with Showalters assessment of his recent play. "I see the ball well," he said. "Like I said before, its hard to be consistent for that long. I just take my routine and try to do it on a daily basis so I can stay more consistent." The loss ends a season-best seven-game winning streak for the Astros. Tillman (5-2) allowed one run on four hits over 6 2-3 innings to bounce back after allowing 14 runs combined in his last two starts. Zach Britton pitched a scoreless ninth for his fourth save. The Orioles took the lead when Dallas Keuchel (6-3) walked home two runs in the fifth and Cruz extended the lead to 4-1 with his solo shot to left-centre off Jerome Williams in the eighth. Cruzs 52 RBIs lead the majors and are the most in team history at the end of May, surpassing the 50 RBIs Chris Davis had entering June last year. Cruz, who also doubled on Saturday, has a 12-game hitting streak with six doubles, eight homers and 15 RBIs in that span. He was pleased that the was able to get the offence going on Saturday after scoring just two runs in the previous two games combined. "As a team we know we can score runs. No doubt," he said. "We have top to bottom one of the best lineups in the league. So it waas a matter of time (before) we came back and do what we were supposed to do.dddddddddddd I think today was a great example." Keuchel allowed six hits and three runs with three walks in six innings to end a four-game winning streak. He was done in by his lack of control on Saturday after walking just one batter in his previous four starts combined. Keuchel was coming off two stellar outings where he posted a 1.02 ERA and was named AL player of the week. "I just didnt have a feel," Keuchel said of the fifth inning. "Give them credit for laying off a few pitches. Thats a good team. I was lucky to get out of there with just three runs." Manny Machado singled off Keuchel with one out in the fifth before a two-out single by Caleb Joseph. Nick Markakis walked to load the bases before the Orioles took the lead on a walk by Steve Pearce. A third straight walk -- this one by Cruz -- scored another run to push the lead to 3-1. Keuchel took Adam Jones to a full count before striking him out to end the inning. Markakis hit a leadoff double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Cruz with one out to put Baltimore up early. Jason Castro doubled with no outs in the second inning before Tillman plunked two of the next three batters to load the bases with one out. Robbie Grossman singled on a dribbler down the right field line to tie it at 1-1. NOTES: The series wraps up on Sunday when Baltimores Wei-Yin Chen opposes Scott Feldman. ... Saturday was the 1,000th career game for Jones. ... Baltimore RHP Tommy Hunter, on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to May 21 with a left groin strain, will throw a bullpen session on Sunday. ... Machado, who has hit in the No. 2 spot for most of his career, was moved down to the seventh spot this week after struggling this season. Showalter is confident that Machado, who had two hits Saturday, will get back on track and thinks this move could help. "Were just trying to be patient for him to work his way back into it, but thats a challenge," Showalter said. "He gets frustrated. He hides it pretty well. Hes the same body language, the same everything that he was last year, just not getting the return. And its frustrating for him." ' ' '