Flames: 15-14-2, 32 points, 3rd in Pacific, 9th in West, 21st in NHL.
Blues: 19-10-4, 42 points, 2nd in Central, 3rd in West, 5th in NHL.
Quote of the day:
Quote:
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“Pancakes, 100 percent. Those guys that have pasta at eight in the morning, I don’t understand it. They’re a little (weird). I stick with the normal breakfast.” ~David Jones
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Great, now I want pancakes.
This is just one of those teams that always has the Flames' number. The Blues have dominated the matchup recently, going 7-0-1 against the Flames in recent years, winning 5 in a row including a sweep last year where they outscored the Flames 12-2. This is why there are so few positive pictures to post for the Flames. Part of it is their size, being one of the biggest teams in the league. The other part is how consistent they are defensively. It's just rare for them to give up a lot of chances, and the stats bare that out. They're 10th in Goals Against, but their PK is operating at an astounding 87%, good for 2nd in the league. Part of that has been the play of Jake Allen, who has pretty much pushed Brian Elliott into the backup role. Allen has a .927 Sv% and a GAA of just 2.06, which should be putting him in the conversation for a Vezina, but it hasn't materialized yet.
But they also have some dynamic offensive players too. Tarasenko is now tied with Jamie Benn for the goal scoring lead at 20. He's a different player than Benn, but no less lethal when he gets a chance in close. But he's almost been doing it single-handedly for the Blues. The next closest goal scorers are Steen with 11 and Backes with 10. Nobody else on the team has more than 6 goals. So realistically, if you shut down Tarasenko you can largely shut down their offense 5 on 5. However, their power play is operating at over 20%, ranking them 8th in the league. Combining their special teams numbers, their percentage is 108.2%, which is 3rd to only the Bruins and Capitals. Overall, the Blues goal differential is only +5, yet they're 9 games above .500. If you look at percentage of goals scored even strength, the Blues are middle of the pack at 74.7% and a goal differential of only +3. Guess who's #1? Yup, the Flames at 87.8%, yet they have a goal differential 5 on 5 of -14 still.
Part of the Blues' record is that half of their wins have come by 1 goal, and that's not even counting the games where they score a late empty netter to go up by 2. It's a team that just finds ways to win the tight games, but it also means that they aren't going to dominate you very often. They aren't a flashy team, but there just aren't many holes to the Blues' game. But, don't forget, this is an afternoon game, so expect some incredibly sloppy play from both teams. These games have not boded well for the Flames in the past, but you never know when a trend will change.
The good news is that the Flames are coming in as the hottest team in the league with 7 straight wins, including 2 very impressive road wins over Nashville and Dallas. In fact, that last game was only Dallas' 4th loss at home all year, making it even more impressive. The biggest reason for the turnaround? No idea really. If you look at the stats they aren't playing much differently than they were prior to the streak. The power play and penalty kill are still pretty terrible statistically, and haven't improved much in that regard. It's just that their scoring chances are going in and the goaltender is stopping pucks. Maybe that's all it is? That's how much goaltending makes a difference I guess. Ramo's Save Percentage the last three games has gone thusly: .939, .955, .972. Dare I say it...he's trending towards a shutout and this team is long overdue for one. Also, we are now tied with Columbus for last in the league in Goals Against, and when you consider where this team was a couple weeks ago, that's very encouraging. The Flames are trending in the right direction after a disastrous start to the season. All I can say to that is...
Roster Notes: Michael Frolik is out for several weeks, but will not require surgery. Bouma and Bollig appear to be the scratches for today's game, but it may change at the last minute since St. Louis is such a big, physical team. The Blues are still without several key secondary players. Patrick Berglund has been out since early October with a shoulder injury, but is now beginning to skate again. Jaden Schwartz has been out since late October with a broken ankle that required surgery and isn't expected back until the end of January. Poor Olli Jokinen has been out pretty much the entire season with shoulder surgery. Steve Ott required surgery on both hamstrings and will be out for 3 months. Brodziak is day-to-day with soreness and will miss today's game. Scott Gomez will suit up in his place. Both Ramo and Elliott are the confirmed starters.
Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Jones
Bennett-Granlund-Hudler
Raymond-Backlund-Jooris
Ferland-Stajan-Colborne
Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Hamilton
Engelland-Wideman
Ramo
Blues
Steen-Stastny-Tarasenko
Paajarvi-Backes-Brouwer
Fabbri-Lehtera-Jaskin
Upshall-Gomez-Reaves
Bouwmeester-Pietrangelo
Lindbohm-Shattenkirk
Gunnarsson-Parayko
Elliott
Go Flames Go!!!!!!!!