It's been a long wait since opening night, but here we are - the Flames are thirstin' for some revenge against the dreaded Grease tonight at the 'Dome!
Some news to set up the match-up (courtesy of
www.calgarysun.com)
Quote:
Calgary Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan thought that Thursday’s 3-0 win over the visiting Arizona Coyotes was exactly that — their most complete effort in 2017-18. Other games may come to mind (Calgary’s 2-0 win at Anaheim on Oct. 9, a 2-1 OT victory over Pittsburgh on Nov. 2, a 6-3 win over Detroit on Nov. 9) but the Flames certainly improved from Tuesday’s 4-1 stinker against Toronto. “I maybe had some disagreements with Connie (Craig Conroy),” Gulutzan said. “But it’s something we’re going to build off of.”
The Flames had a meeting after Tuesday’s game against Toronto and challenged their team to take care of unforced errors, better puck management and smarter play in general. Calgary improved to 14-10-1. “I thought we did a good job of keeping the game simple,” Gulutzan said. “You see what happens. I challenged the ‘D’ here . . . they’re a very coachable group and they want to win.” They’ll need the same effort in Saturday’s second instalment of the Battle of Alberta.
The Oilers picked up Nathan Walker off waivers on Friday from the Washington Capitals, the first Australian born player to play in the NHL. The feisty 23-year-old winger was born in Wales but grew up in Sydney. He moved to the Czech Republic in 2007 in order to pursue his hockey career, playing with the HC Vitkovice. Walker was selected in the third round of the 2014 NHL draft by Washington. He ha played seven games for the Capitals this year, scoring once and racking up four penalty minutes.
After being held point-less in Thursday’s game, LW Johnny Gaudreau was stuck at 19 points in November and just missed beating a franchise record for points in the month of November. Five players have done it: Carey Wilson (1987), Joe Mullen (1988), Doug Gilmour (1988), Gary Roberts (1992), and Jarome Iginla (2009). Heading into Friday’s games, Gaudreau was still sitting third in NHL scoring with 11 goals and 23 assists and 34 points in 25 games. He sat only behind Tampa Bay snipers Nikita Kucherov (17 goals and 19 assists) and Steven Stamos (11 goals and 26 assists).
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Lineups, subject to change and blending (
www.dailyfaceoff.com)
FLAMES
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Bennett - Jankowski - Jagr
Hathaway - Stajan - Brouwer
Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone
Smith (unconfirmed)
OILERS
Lucic - McDavid - Puljujarvi
Maroon - Nugent Hopkins - Slepyshev
Caggiula - Draisaitl - Strome
Khaira - Letestu - Kassian
Klefblom - Benning
Nurse - Russell (possibly an extra shot from the slot for the Flames)
Auvitu - Gryba
Brossoit (unconfirmed)
...and even though the Flames have had their difficulties so far this season, it's gratifying to know that Edmonton's are far, far worse. Watching the Oil Tanker founder is always fun, and That Darn Puppet and L'il Scorch are in for a closer view:
Go Flames