Flames: 12-6-2, 3rd in the division, 4th conference, 7th league.
Blackhawks: 10-7-1, 4th in the division, 9th conference, 15th league.
I'm not going to even front, Hiller was the only reason we won that last game with his amazing 49 save performance.
I'm sure the Blackhawks are ready for revenge tonight, but this is quite a different team from the one they faced early in the season. No longer ravaged by the flu, and getting solid performances from nearly everyone on the roster, the Flames have won 3 in a row and 7 of their last 9 to pull within a point of the Ducks for the division lead and also the Conference lead. Hiller helped the Flames pull out a big win on Tuesday against the Ducks, making some big saves especially in the shootout. This is great news to see Hiller back on his game, after struggling in his last 4 or 5 games. I'm sure the 'Hawks are hoping to see the Hiller that was prone to some soft goals instead of the guy that stoned them in their last meeting. The Flames are still scoring goals, with 3 in the last game that all came in the 3rd period, pushing their goal total in that frame to 27 (1st in the league), and earning their 4th win when trailing after 2 periods (also 1st in the league).
The Blackhawks also score a lot in the 3rd (20 goals) but also score a lot in the first (21 goals), but a particular sore spot is their lack of production in the middle frame with just 6 goals so far this year. This is also a team that struggled to score for stretches this year, but seem to have found their offensive attack of late, but still have been inconsistent this year. In their wins this year, they have scored an average of 3.9 GF/G. When they lose, it drops down to 1.25 GF/G, keeping their overall offensive production at 2.67 GF/G (15th in the league). This lack of offense is puzzling when you consider they get an unreal amount of shots per game (37.9, 1st in the league). However, the 'Hawks have been rock solid in their own zone and in net. They sport the league's 2nd best GA/G at just 2.00, and they own the league's bet penalty kill at 92.3%. Crawford has been solid when tested, with a 1.88 GAA and a .929 Sv%. The Flames will have to work very hard to score against a Blackhawks team that controls the play a lot, keeps their shots against down, and has a rock solid team defense and good goaltending.
The Flames young players have done well to add offense in the absence of so many veteran forwards. Granlund has quietly produced, scoring 8 points in his 9 games so far. Jooris has been rock solid all over the ice and has chipped in with 7 points in his 13 games. Even Baertschi, despite some inconsistent play, has 3 assists in 7 games. Their strong play is essential, as the Flames are going to be without Stajan for most of the season, and Backlund's status is completely unknown. Colborne and Raymond are still slowly mending an unlikely to see the ice anytime soon. Ferland is getting closer to game action, but likely a couple games away from seeing the ice. Even David Jones, who had been heating up and playing a strong game, is day-to-day with an upper body injury (just pray it's not his shoulder). Kris Russell is also nursing a lower body injury and may not play in this game either.
The good news is that both Smid and Diaz stepped up their game in the absence of Russell. Smid went from his season average of around 15 minutes to over 20 minutes in the last game, and was a solid +2. Diaz also played 15 minutes, well over his season average of 12:17, and added some useful minutes on the PP. They will need all these guys playing a solid game again as the 'Hawks are ready to begin their annual "circus trip", and are likely looking for revenge after such a tough loss to the Flames last time.
Flames
Glencross-Monahan-Setoguchi
Gaudreau-Granlund-Hudler
Baertschi-Jooris-Byron
Bollig-Reinhart-Bouma
Giordano-Brodie
Smid-Wideman
Diaz-Engelland
Hiller
Blackhawks
Saad-Toews-Hossa
Versteeg-Richards-Kane
Bickell-Shaw-Carcillo
Nordstrom-Kruger-Smith
Keith-Seabrook
Hjalmarsson-Oduya
Rundblad-Rozsival
Crawford
Go Flames Go!!!