The Calgary Flames dropped their third consecutive game on Thursday night with a 4-2 defeat to the surging Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

Following the game, Flames forward Sean Monahan told reporters that he thought the team "lacked some emotion." 

"I just think we lacked some emotion," explained Monahan, who had a minus-1 rating on Thursday. "We've got to be invested emotionally in games and when that's lacking, it's tough to get momentum.

"We've got to play for each other. We have a tight team, so we have to regroup here real quick. We've got to be invested a lot harder and play harder. When you do that, when you're playing for each other, that's when you get results."

The 26-year-old centre has two goals and five assists over six games this season, his eighth in Calgary.

Flames head coach Geoff Ward said the team needs to find a way to "garner emotion" with no fans in the crowd. 

"Sometimes the crowd gets you going, but with the lack of crowd, you've got to find things in order to try and generate that emotion, especially when you're behind, whether it be a big shot block or taking a hit to make a play, finishing a big hit, having a good shift in the o-zone," said Ward. "There's little moments where you have to generate emotions as a team." 

The Flames battle the Habs again Saturday night in Montreal. Calgary currently ranks sixth out of seven teams in the North Division.