Sorry for the late game thread. I have family visiting from Montreal.
Flames: 17-10-2, 36 points, 3rd in Pacific, 6th in West, 11th League
Sabres: 10-16-2, 22 points, 8th in Atlantic, 15th in East, 28th League
Tonight is the battle of the basement dwellers, or at least supposedly so to begin the year. If anyone would have told you that the Flames would be in a solid playoff position after nearly 30 games instead of battling Buffalo for last overall in the league, you would have been laughed out of the room. But here we are, and as good as the Flames have been there's been a bit of a lull in the past few games. Inability to finish, lack of a killer instinct, or finding a way to get ahead and stay ahead have been the major issues for a team that found a way to win any game, whether they played well or not. Well the law of averages has dictated the recent string of games where they actually played quite well and deserved a better fate, but ended up in the loss column. It's either the law of averages or, maybe, the hockey gods? Either way, the Flames are going to have to battle tonight against a team that has been just as good as they've been over the recent stretch, if not better.
Yes, Buffalo is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games, and it hasn't been against soft Eastern opponents either. No, they've managed to beat teams like L.A. and San Jose, along with Eastern powers Montreal (twice) and Tampa Bay. As bad as they were to start the year, they've turned it around of late, thanks primarily to the excellent play of Jhonas Enroth. If you throw out one below average game against Tampa Bay (and they can make any goalie look average) his save percentage average over his last 7 games is .959. Those are unreal numbers and the Flames will have to not only overcome their inability to bury their chances of late, but also an extremely hot goaltender. Overall, the Sabres defense has improved from an atrocious beginning and are no longer dead last in the league. They still aren't great at 3.00 GA/G, but that's still better than 6 other teams. Similarly, their penalty kill sits at 22nd in the league, better than the Flames.
It's a good thing they've been keeping the puck out of the net because the Sabres still struggle mightily to score goals. They sit dead last in the league at 1.57 GF/G and also have the worst 5 on 5 ratio at 0.62. None of their players have had a multi-point game of late, and nobody is on any kind of point streak to speak of. Their power play is an atrocious 7.5%, which is also dead last. Tyler Ennis leads the team with 17 points, and there doesn't seem to be any help in sight to improve the offense much more this season.
It's a night where the Flames defense should be able to finally handle a team's attack, compared to the last two games where the Sharks and Leafs overmatched the Flames with a combination of speed and physicality, the Sabres don't offer much of either, especially with Chris Stewart playing such a soft game. Let's hope he doesn't wake up tonight after being a healthy scratch last game. Still, the Flames have shown at times that they can be very effective defensively even though their GA/G has risen steadily throughout the year. Ramo has been very solid of late, so it will take some big mistakes from the Flames (which I'm sure they're trying to correct), or some incredible play from an anemic offense. As always, the Flames can only beat themselves tonight.
Ramo is the confirmed starter. Colborne is a game time decision and lack of conditioning is a non-factor for his status, but a pain-free wrist is. If he's in the lineup I have no idea where everyone slots in.
Flames
Glencross-Monahan-Byron
Gaudreau-Jooris-Hudler (Colborne?)
Raymond-Granlund-Jones
Bollig-Stajan-Bouma
Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Smid-Engelland
Ramo
Stewart should be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch. Ennis was not at practice yesterday, but should be ready to go.
Sabres
Moulson-Girgensons-Ennis
Flynn-Mitchell-Gionta
Foligno-Hodgson-Stafford
Deslauriers-McCormick-Stewart
Gorges Myers
Ristolaien Zadorov
Benoit Weber
Enroth
Go Flames Go!!!