Ok, someone help me out with photos. I couldn't find anything worth posting.
Flames: 21-21-3, 45 points, 6th in Pacific, 12th in West, 25th in NHL.
Hurricanes: 21-20-8, 50 points, 6th in Metropolitan, 12th in East, 22nd in NHL.
The Hurricanes continue to battle this season. After a pitiful start to the year, it looked early on like they were going to be in the conversation for a top 3 pick. However, after a stronger January so far going 5-3-3, they have pulled themselves within 5 points of a wild card spot. That being said, they'll have to leapfrog some teams to get in, but it's not entirely out of the question, similar to the Flames situation.
They'll have to get better goaltending though. Cam Ward has been getting the majority of the starts posting a respectable 2.45 GAA, but still only has a .905 SV%, and the Legend of Eddie Lack has been sub .900 and pushing 3 goals against per game. I can't speak to shot quality, but the Hurricanes only give up 26.4 Shots Against per game, ranking them 1st in the entire NHL! (surprised me too). Even though the personnel in Carolina isn't the strongest, it does make you wonder how they would be doing if their goaltending was at least league average.
However, they don't score much, ranking 5th worst in the NHL with 2.31 GF/G. A bright spot for their season has been the continued progression of Justin Faulk, who leads the team with 33 points including 14 goals. Unfortunately, because he plays top minutes and goes against the toughest competition without a strong partner, he also has a team worst -15. He's a little like Tyson Barrie in that respect. The Staals have also been strong as well, putting up a decent amount of points and being some of the stronger players defensively for the 'Canes. One has to wonder how long it will be until they're traded, as the Hurricanes are obviously looking to rebuild a little going forward.
The Flames come in with a solid road win over the hapless Blue Jackets. It was just their 7th road win of the year, and the Flames have the 2nd worst winning percentage on the road so far in the entire NHL. Guess who's worst. That's right, you guessed it, the no good Edmonton Oilers...on their way to yet another top 3 pick. If the Flames can finish this tr
The strong play of Gaudreau continues to lead the Flames offensively, still on a little more than a point per game pace, placing him 10th in NHL scoring. He could still use a little more help, and 19 year old Sam Bennett is providing that of late. He's been on quite the pace, scoring 8 goals over his last 5 games since he finally got the monkey off his back against San Jose. Not to be overlooked, Mikael Backlund also has 6 points over his last 5 games, primarily being Bennett's set up man. It's good to see what Backlund can do with a bonafide goal scorer on his wing since his game away from the puck is often strong.
And last but not least, Mark Giordano has continued his very strong play after an incredibly rough start to the season. He's now 2nd in team scoring behind Gaudreau after putting up 23 points in his last 23 games, and also playing at a +7 over that same time frame against the toughest competition. Let's hope he continues to lead this team the way he did so well last year.
Roster Notes: Ferland is out for today, but it's not considered serious and he should be back in the near future. Lance Bouma should be ready to go today. A roster move might be necessary, but it's likely that Ferland will be put on IR to accommodate Bouma. Ramo is the confirmed starter. The Canes will have gametime decisions on both Riley Nash and Brett Pesce. Cam Ward is out with a concussion, so Lack will start. Of course, James Wisniewski has been out all year with an ACL.
Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Jones
Bennett-Backlund-Frolik
Colborne-Granlund-Hudler
Bouma-Stajan-Bollig
Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Hamilton
Engelland-Wideman
Ramo
Hurricanes
Versteeg-E. Staal-Lindholm
Nordstrom-J. Staal-Nestrasil
Skinner-Rask-Di Giuseppe
Gerbe-McClement-Nash?
Hainsey-Faulk
Liles-Slavin
Hanifin-Jordan
Lack
Go Flames Go!!!!!!