A huge confidence boost for the Flames came last night in the form of not only a shootout win against a solid opponent, but the one man waving windmill cheering section that was PIMKing. They could probably use PIMKing's support tonight as they face an elite Blackhawks team that is undefeated to start the season. Offensively as dangerous as ever, they've scored 4 GPG so far and average over 36 shots for per game. The attack has been spread evenly amongst the lines with 10 players collecting points in 2 games. Defensively they have been very good keeping opponents to 2 GPG and Crawford has a sparkling Sv% of .930.
Of course, looking at that you would think the Flames are doomed, but Calgary managed to collect 4 of a possible 6 points against the 'Hawks and were a team that gave Chicago a lot of trouble, despite being vastly less talented. A repeat of last night's strong work ethic will need to be on display again to keep this game competitive. Hiller will almost definitely get the start on back to back nights, and that's not a bad thing considering his lifetime 10-6-2 record, GAA of 2.30, and Sv% of .927 against the Blackhawks. With Ramo's incredible performance in 2 games so far this year, Hiller could help his case for the #1 job by stealing a game against the 'Hawks. The back end will have to take care of their own zone first, but the Flames need Giordano and Brodie to keep up their team leading point production (5 and 4 points respectively) to aid a forward core that hasn't had a lot of success scoring so far. There were encouraging signs last night, seeing sustained offensive pressure, outshooting their opponent including 6 from Monahan, and even seeing Devin Setoguchi have a pretty solid game (you heard me right).
After being easily defeated by another high end team in the Blues, this will be a good test for the Flames to see if they've found a way to remain competitive against the elite teams in the West.
Looks like the final lineups are set. Diaz in for injured Engelland
Flames
Glencross-Backlund-Byron
Hudler-Monahan-Setoguchi
Raymond-Colborne-Gaudreau
Bollig-Stajan-Bouma
Giordano-Brodie
Russell-
Engelland Wideman
Smid-
Wideman Diaz
Hiller
Blackhawks
Sharp-Toews-Kane
Saad-Richards-Hossa
Bickell-Shaw-Smith
Carcillo-Kruger-Morin
Keith-Seabrook
Hjalmarsson-Oduya
Rundblad-Van Riemsdyk
Crawford
*lineups will be updated near game time
Go Flames Go!