It's been too long between games, hasn't it? Sunday to Saturday's an eternity in the hockey world, but it's back to work this afternoon - Flames vs Jets in the Battle of Atlanta!
setting the stage (
www.calgarysun.com)
Quote:
Even after a five-day break for the Flames, Johnny Gaudreau is still among the NHL’s top marksmen. With 15 goals and 39 assists, he has 54 points which puts him in a three-way tie for fourth in the league (prior to Friday’s action). Gaudreau, the Flames’ lone representative at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game, is on a seven-game point-streak with 11 assists and two goals during the Flames seven-game win streak.
It was a scary scene in San Jose when Michael Frolik went down after absorbing a Brent Burns shot to the face in the second period of the Flames 3-2 loss on Dec. 28. But good news after breaking his jaw and losing around eight teeth, the 29-year-old Czech forward is back on the ice and was skating this week while the rest of the team was on its CBA-mandated break. “Feels definitely better,” Frolik told FlamesTV. “I can move on the ice which is a good sign. Hopefully those couple days are going to speed it up and I’ll be back with the team soon.”
The Flames recalled Marek Hrivik and Andrew Mangiapane from the AHL’s Stockton Heat on Friday. The move was made after sending them back to the American Hockey League during the NHL-mandated five-day break. The pair of forwards joined the Flames farm team for its 2-0 win over the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday. Mangiapane scored both goals, while Hrivik had three shots on net. With the Flames, Mangiapane appeared in seven games, was a minus-2, recorded five shots on net and averaged 8:45 in icetime. Hrivik made his Flames debut in a 4-1 win on Sunday over the host Carolina Hurricanes and recorded 9:04 with one shot on net.
The Flames are riding a seven-game win streak and are undefeated in 2018 (so far) … The Flames have been out-shot in the last four games … Heading into Friday’s NHL action, the Flames were tied with the Blackhawks for seventh in goals allowed with 122 … They have four clashes before the NHL all-star break, including Saturday’s game. The Calgary club hosts the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 22 and the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 24 before hitting the road to face the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 25 … The Flames are 12-11-0 at home.
Heading into Friday’s action, the Jets had scored the third-most goals in the NHL (152), averaging 3.30 goals per game … They were also sitting tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for second in team face-offs (52.8%) … The Jets are 10-10-6 on the road … The Jets are 18-8-2 against the Western Conference and 11-3-0 versus the Pacific Division … The Winnipeg club is amid a stretch of playing six of seven games on the road which is spread over 21 days.
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FLAMES (
www.calgaryflames.com)
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Brouwer
Bennett - Jankowski - Hathaway
Mangiapane - Stajan - Lazar
Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone
Smith
JETS (
www.winnipegjets.com)
Connor - Wheeler - Laine
Perreault - Little - Ehlers
Tanev - Copp - Armia
Dano - Hendricks - Roslovic
Morrissey - Trouba
Kulikov - Myers
Enstrom - Byfuglien
Hellebuyck
...and it's Hockey Day in Canada, where the CBC and the NHL drag out all the Canadian stereotypes. Unfortunately for the boys from Winnipeg, Our Hero sees stereotypes as weapons:
Go Flames