Lots of questions tonight as the Flames roll into Denver. Does David Rittich get the start? Will the top line stay hot? Will the fourth line show some scoring? Can the Flames defence stop making more turnovers than a bakery? All will be revealed tonight on Hockey Night in Canada!
Flames news (
www.calgarysun.com)
Quote:
David Rittich vs. Nathan MacKinnon
The 25-year-old looks like he’ll be tapped to fill in for Mike Smith in back-to-back contests. His main assignment? Nathan MacKinnon who is averaging 1.19 points per game. He’s been red-hot in the previous 11 games with six goals and 14 assists. The 22-year-old is on some kind of tear. Meanwhile, Rittich was rewarded for his hot start to the 2017-18 campaign in the AHL.
Micheal Ferland scored his ninth goal of the year while Sean Monahan scored his 13th and 14th markers of the 2017-18 campaign. And Johnny Gaudreau? Well, he cemented spot in the top-three NHL scoring with his 11th goal of the campaign. There’s no doubt who Calgary has been leaning on this season but Gaudreau has been outstanding so far. He had his 10-game point streak snapped but he picked up where he left off Friday at Dallas.
The last time the Flames were in Colorado, they pumped the Avs with six goals — this, after gathering at 6:30 a.m. for an early-morning flight to Denver after a three-day break during the holidays. The Flames wound up winning 6-3 and went on to win the season series 3-0. They’ll return to Colorado on Feb. 28, just four days after hosting the Avs on Feb. 24 at Calgary.
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Some Avs news (
www.milehighsticking.com)
Quote:
The Colorado Avalanche are 7-1-1 in the Pepsi Center. That’s very impressive when you consider the one overtime loss actually occurred in Sweden. Their only home regulation loss came at the hands of the St. Louis Blues, who are practically Cup contenders,
What’s more, Pepsi Center games are exciting. Through the nine games on home ice, no fewer than three goals have been scored per game. None of these 1-0 snoozefests.
The Avalanche are coming off a shootout heartbreaker in Minnesota. Colorado fell to the Wild 3-2 in the shootout, during which time Alex Stalock made saves on both Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, while Jonathan Bernier stopped Mikko Koivu but allowed Charlie Coyle and Chris Stewart to score.
The Calgary Flames dropped a 6-4 decision to the Stars in Dallas last night. Fun fact: Both teams are playing their second game of a back-to-back series. For Colorado, this is their sixth.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog has six points in his last five games dating back to his hat trick against the Washington Capitals. Landeskog is third on the team for scoring with 17 points and leads all Avalanche players with nine goals. If Landeskog keeps up this pace, he’ll match his career-best 65 points.
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Lineups, unconfirmed and subject to blending (
www.dailyfaceoff.com)
FLAMES
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Bennett - Jankowski - Jagr
Versteeg - Lazar - Brouwer
Giorda no - D Hamilton
Brodie- Hamonic
Kulak - Stone
Rittich (unconfirmed)
AVALANCHE
Landeskog - McKinnon - Rantanen
Wilson - Kerfoot - Compher
Nieto - Soderberg - Comeau
Andrighetto - Toninato - Yakupov
Girard - Johnson
Zadorov - Barberio
Barrie - Mironov
Hammond (unconfirmed)
...it was quite a trip from the plains of Texas to the mountains of Colorado. That Darn Puppet kills a few hours before game time with a quick trip to the slopes, where he introduces an Avs rep to the local wildlife:
Go Flames