Good thing there wasn't a month-long HBO special leading up to that.

Hardly a classic, and when you think about it, today's players are so far removed from the heritage of playing professional hockey outdoors that an important two points in the standings took a backseat to just surviving the experience.

Consider it a minor success that your Canadiens, now losers of six of their last seven games, made it out of Calgary without another player going down to injury.

Though it was no one's fault, the ice conditions were less than optimal. The wind played a distinct role in the momentum of the game, and though Carey Price wasn't bothered by the cold, one has to wonder how everyone else who saw the ice for less than 15 minutes felt about it.

A game that saw both teams combine for 76 shots on net couldn't have been less exciting.

Miikka Kiprusoff was tested 39 times by the Canadiens, though the test they administered was open book. Kipper was barely challenged.

As for his counterpart, Price withstood several odd-man rushes from the Flames who kept things simple and straightforward, allowing them to prevail easily over the Canadiens when all was said and done.

It's not often that a losing goaltender could be considered its team's first star in a 4-0 shutout, but Price was exactly that.

His teammates didn't offer up star performances to back him up.

By the time this game got to 3-0, they barely offered a performance of any kind, and I can't say I blame them for it.

The significance of the outcome can't be marginalized.

Outdoors or on the moon, the Calgary Flames extended their winning ways, edging ever closer to a playoff berth, while the Canadiens slid further into bad habits that could inevitably undo all the hard fought ground they've captured in the standings.

So long as Montreal's best players remain on the periphery of a game that can only be won from the inside, this slide seems destined to continue.

And while the Canadiens benefit from the return of Cammalleri, Mara, Gill and Wisniewski to their bruised line up, they look like a team waiting for reinforcements from the general manager.

It's unquestionable that Pierre Gauthier's facing a lot of pressure to improve this hockey club, which has overtaxed itself to be in the position they currently hold.

But in a tailspin, the Canadiens are still sitting comfortably with a five-point advance on the 8th best team in the Eastern Conference, and a nine-point margin over the next best Buffalo Sabres.

How much longer can this team enjoy that comfort?

Abhorrent on the road, the Canadiens have 13 games left to play under those circumstances.

They have eight left to play in front of their home-fans at the Bell Centre, and they'll have to do immaculately well in those games because if they don't, this season will once again come down to the final games (in Ottawa, and Toronto thereafter).

Before we get there, the Habs need to find a way to escape Vancouver with a victory.

Considering they've lost the first two of this three-game hell-trip to Western Canada, and considering the Canucks will offer the greatest challenge they've faced, they'd be overcoming long odds to return home with two points in hand.

But if they could manage it, that would set them up nicely for important games at home against the Leafs and Hurricanes later this week, before the team has to shuffle off for another 5 of 6 games to be played on the road.