Just thought it would be interesting to consider how this Oilers team would look with all the players they jettisoned in favor of the newer shinier toys. It's safe to say they would be a lot better with these players still in their lineup, but chose not to retain them and give the young guys huge contracts eating up the majority of their cap space without proving anything. They could be a halfway decent team right now instead of the joke that they are. That's on management and I have no sympathy whatsoever for those Klowns.
Flames: 26-20-3: 55 points, 4th in the Pacific, 8th in the West, 16th in NHL.
Oilers: 13-27-9: 35 points, 7th in the Pacific, 14th in the West, 29th in NHL.
On to the game tonight: A tough luck loss for the Flames against the previously mentioned Dubnyk as he managed to hand them their first shutout of the year (clearly jinxing doesn't work). It was a fairly close contest in which both goaltenders were strong, but a careless turnover from the Flames captain cost the Flames an early goal, and they were never able to get it back. Hiller turned in another strong performance, and since the all-star break and a long layoff where Ortio had 5 straight starts, Hiller has stopped 48 of 50 shots and has a 1.00 GAA. Perfect timing for him to go on a hot streak. It's hard to know whether he will keep this up for the rest of the season, but if he gives the Flames above average goaltending for the next 10-20 games, it will put them in a very good position to make the playoffs. Hiller will make his 3rd straight start tonight.
And like it or not, they'll need Hiller to be on his game tonight. The Oilers have won 3 of their last 4 (2 in the shootout) and have an identical 5-5-0 record as the Flames in their last 10 games. They have also managed to beat both the Blackhawks and Islanders in convincing fashion earlier this month. They're still not a great team, but something has changed and they're not quite the pushover they were earlier in the season. Fasth has been starting more games of late and has turned in some strong performances. He's had a Sv% of .925 or higher in 3 of his last 4 games. Scrivens has not been as strong, sporting a .872 Sv% over his last 5 games, but still managing 2 wins when his Sv% managed to get to .900.
The Oilers will be without Taylor Hall tonight, but it's not the end of the world as he's only managed 1 point and a -4 over his past 4 games. Eberle is having a similar struggle over the past few, and RNH is pointless since returning from his all-star appearance, but did have a couple of multipoint games in his last 5. Their captain, Andrew Ference, has 0 points and a -5 over his last 4 games. Justin Schultz only has 1 point, but a surprising +1 over his last 5 games. Derek Roy has 1 point in his last 5 and Yakupov has 1 point over his last 7. It hasn't been the go-to players for the Oilers, but rather the supporting cast that has carried them.
Anton Lander has been doing well since being recalled, and has 7 points in his last 11 games, and a +1 over that span, including 3 in the last game against Buffalo. Oscar Klefbom also has a 3 game point streak, after only putting up 2 points in his first 24 games of the year, and is a +3 over his last 10 games. He's still just 21 and might be rounding into the player they thought they would get when they drafted him. Benoit Pouliot has 7 points in his last 10 games and is a +4 over that span. Matt Fraser has 5 point in his last 5 games, and is a +3 as well. Even Matt Hendricks has 4 points over his last 10 games. When has that ever happened in his career? No, surprisingly it's been the much-malgined bottom 6 of the Oilers that have put the team on their back. If nothing else, Todd Nelson has managed to do what no other Oiler coach has been able to do over the past few years: Get production and strong play out of his bottom 6 forwards.
For the Flames, it's been players like Joe Colborne who have stepped up of late. Our own Jumbo Joe has 5 points in his last 5 games and is a +4, taking care of his own zone too. The shutout snapped Sean Monahan's personal 5 game point streak (6 points), so here's hoping he gets right back to putting up points tonight. Gaudreau has been putting up points with regularity, as has Giordano.
Unfortunately there are some ice-cold Flames as well. After a 4 game point streak, Jones has cooled off, going pointless in his last 6. Even worse, Mason Raymond has just 2 points in his last 17 games since returning from injury, and is a -6 over that time. He might look a little better from time to time on the ice, but he needs to start producing now, otherwise it's time to at least give someone else a chance. I would have taken 8 or 9 points over that time for around 0.5 PPG, but he's been so much worse than that. Hopefully the Oilers are the cure for his offensive woes since he did manage to score a hat trick against them earlier in the year. Matt Stajan has just 1 point in his last 7 games, to go along with slightly soft play. The Flames need their bottom 6 to be at least as good as the Oilers bottom 6 if they want to win, not only tonight, but enough over the next 2 months to get into the playoffs.
Roster Notes: Glencross may be another week before returning as he did not practice yesterday. No word on Smid's return either. Wotherspoon is a possibility for the game tonight, but it's somewhat unlikely that either Baertschi or Wolf make it into the lineup. As previously stated, Hall is doubtful for tonight with a leg injury. Nikita Nikitin is out for several weeks with a shoulder injury recently sustained, so Keith Aulie will draw back in.
p.s. Calgary Flames @NHLFlames 31m31 minutes ago
Happy 28th birthday to @Bollig87! #Warrior
Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler
Raymond-Jooris-Colborne
Bouma-Backlund-Jones
Bollig-Stajan-Byron
Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Diaz-Engelland
Hiller
Oilers
Pouliot-Nugent-Hopkins-Eberle
Yakupov-Roy-Purcell
Hendricks-Gordon-Klinkhammer
Fraser-Lander-Gazdic
Klefbom-Schultz
Ference-Petry
Fayne-Aulie
Scrivens
Go Flames Go!!!