[GDT] Flames vs. Blues, 7 pm, SNW

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Flames: 38-26-5, 81 points, 3rd in the Pacific, 7th in the West, 15th in NHL.

Blues: 44-20-5, 93 points, 1st in the Central, 2nd in the West, 3rd in NHL.


These are two teams that haven’t met in 5 months, and it was just the 3rd game of the year for the Flames. That’s quite an anomaly in the schedule for two teams in the same conference. That early meeting was what could simply be described as an elite team dominating a young and unproven squad. Since that time however, the Flames have turned into a team that still has off nights now and then (the most recent game against Colorado a good example) but most often has a chance to win every game against any opponent, especially if they are somehow behind going into the 3rd period. It’s a confident and talented young team, and it’s markedly different than the one that the Blues first met and beat easily 4-1 back in October.

The Blues have been the model of consistency all year long. They had one 4 game winless streak heading into Christmas, but outside of that, they haven’t lost more than 2 games in a row all year. It’s that consistency that allowed them to sneak up and overtake the Predators who looked nearly unbeatable all year until a recent slump, going 2-8-0 in their last 10. The Blues are not only leading their division, but they could arguably be the best team in the conference or the league. They are tied with Montreal for 2nd in the league with a .674 points per game percentage, trailing only the New York Rangers who own a .699. They rank 5th in the league in GF/G with 2.97 (just one spot ahead of the Flames at 2.91), and 7th in the league in GA/G with 2.42 (Calgary is 15th with 2.59 for comparison). They are strong in all 3 facets of the game, ranked 4th in 5 on 5 ratio, 4th on the powerplay, and 11th on the penalty kill but with a very strong 82.6%. The Blues are 6th in SF/G and 4th in SA/G. The Flames are 28th and 11th by comparison. The Blues are 2nd in faceoff percentage which will likely kill the Flames 25th ranked centers. The Blues have some good numbers and results so far, but it will be interesting to see how this team fares down the stretch with the 3rd toughest schedule remaining.

All that being said, the Flames and Blues have identical records in their last 10: 6-3-1. In those last 10 games, the Blues are averaging 2.80 GF/G and 2.40 GA/G. Conversely, in the last 10 games for the Flames they are averaging 3.40 GF/G and 2.50 GA/G. What’s notable about that is that the Blues’ offense is slightly worse than their average for the year, while their defense is pretty much on par, but looking at the Flames numbers their offense is substantially higher than their average for the year and their defense is actually better than their season average (most of that sample without Giordano). I’d have to ask Bingo, but I think their Corsi and Fenwick numbers are getting better as the year goes on too (I doubt they could have gotten much worse). Oh, and don’t look now, but Mikael Backlund is currently riding an 8 game point streak.

Playoff watch: Flames playoff chances are currently at 84.6% even with L.A. winning last night. The Flames need a 7-2-4 record over their remaining 13 games to get to a 99.9% chance of making the playoffs. A win tonight over the Blues would boost their chances by 5.1% which would be great considering it’s their toughest opponent remaining and they play them again in a couple weeks. A loss however would be -7.4% The OOT features a few games of interest:
Philadelphia @ Vancouver: a win by the Flyers would boost the Flames' chances by 0.8%.
Minnesota @ Nashville: a win by the Predators boosts the Flames' chances by 0.7%.
San Jose @ Winnipeg: confused by whom to cheer for? Don't be. A win by the Sharks actually improves the Flames' chances by 1.3%. A win for the Jets decreases their chances by 0.5%.

Roster Notes: The Flames had a full practice yesterday with no maintenance days (other than for the head coach who took a personal day…probably still steaming over that too many men on the ice call). Byron continues to skate by himself. No news on which goaltender will start. The Blues are only missing Kevin Shattenkirk who is now skating with the team following his abdominal surgery in early February. No word on whether he plays tonight, but he’s close to returning. The Blues have been lucky on the injury front this year only losing 126 man games to injury (24th in the NHL. Flames are 13th with 187). Blues' lineup is a little all over the place lately, so don't take these lines as anything more than a thought.


Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler
Bouma-Backlund-Jones
Raymond-Jooris-Colborne
Bollig-Stajan-Ferland

Russell-Wideman
Brodie-Engelland
Schlemko-Diaz

Ramo?


Blues
Jaskin-Backes-Oshie
Schwartz-Lehtera-Tarasenko
Steen-Stastny-Jokinen
Berglund-Goc-Reaves

Gunnarsson-Pietrangelo
Bouwmeester-Michalek
Jackman-Lindbohm

Elliott




Go Flames Go!!!

[T@T]

Not going to be easy, I consider the Blues the toughest match for the Flames in the entire league.

[calgaryboy]

Cali, you know it is good to sleep, yeah? :-) GDT at 2:47 am. I mean Cali come on, those hours are my territory in here, in CR, waking up for Flames games ! :-)

[SHOGUN]

Hope we can pull out on top of this one. We really need a strong performance from Hiller to even have a chance.

[Money Baer]

A win today would be massive! Our next 4 games after this one are all against non-playoff teams... We could potentially put some serious distance between us and the pack!

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by calgaryboy

Cali, you know it is good to sleep, yeah? :-) GDT at 2:47 am. I mean Cali come on, those hours are my territory in here, in CR, waking up for Flames games ! :-)

Trust me, I'd rather have slept in but I couldn't help but be wide awake at 4:30 (I'm in the Eastern time zone). I guess I'm training myself to run on a lack of sleep for the day my son arrives.

[Poe969]

This will be the measuring stick game for us IMO. I honestly fear the blues more than the ducks at this point. If they win tonight, I'm predicting 5 in a row. They can do this.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by T@T

Not going to be easy, I consider the Blues the toughest match for the Flames in the entire league.

Agreed. They play sound defensive hockey and are in your face all game. Not a good matchup as the Flames will not get a lot in the way of easy opportunities and turnovers as the Blues don't let up. Falling behind early in this one is a really bad idea.

[malcolmk14]

Big game tonight! Hope the good guys pull off the win, and San Jose, Nashville, and Philadelphia help us out on the out of town scoreboard with regulation wins!

[icarus]

Need to see some good bounce back tonight, now is not the time of year to start a losing streak. Go Flames Go!

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by malcolmk14

Big game tonight! Hope the good guys pull off the win, and San Jose, Nashville, and Philadelphia help us out on the out of town scoreboard with regulation wins!

The OOT scoreboard doesn't look very favorable tonight as San Jose can't be depended on, the Preds are slumping bad, and the Flyers are mediocre. Flames with the toughest task and will likely wake up tomorrow morning in 9th place.

[FlamesAddiction]

Yeah, this will be a tough one. The Blues aren't taking it for granted either and have chosen to play their "A" goalie against us.

We'll need a little bit of luck for this one, but it's doable.

[nemanja2306]

1. Russell the workhorse Flames needed since Giordano went down

Fast-forward through 135 games and the 27-year-old son of a bull-fighter from Caroline, Alta., has definitely earned his ice time.

Can’t get enough of it, actually.

Russell and his defence partner Dennis Wideman has seen their workload increase significantly due to the unfortunate injury to Flames captain Mark Giordano back on Feb. 25. Since then, Russell has seen his total on-ice presence increase by five to 10 minutes per night.

2. Flames brace for meaningful contest against Blues[

“We are a different team from the last time we played them,” agreed Flames defenceman TJ Brodie on Monday as the Flames put the finishing touches on their preparations for the incoming Western Conference heavyweights. “We played them during the first road trip of the year. We’ve gotten to know each other a lot more and have a lot better chemistry then we did back when we played them before.”

Hitchcock says its always 'game on' when playing the Flames

“I think they’re at as good a level as anybody in the west right now,” said Hitchcock, whose Blues face the Flames at the Saddledome on Tuesday night in the second of three meetings. “They just play. Whatever the score is is irrelevant. It isn’t the comebacks — it’s that they never drop that level. If you take your foot off the gas, they roll over top of you.”

4. Backlund sparking strong line at both ends of rink

While the top trio of Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler is garnering all the headlines, it’s far from the only line Bob Hartley is riding these days.

Mikael Backlund, currently riding a career-best eight-game point streak, is shouldering a big load and contributing to the Calgary Flames’ NHL playoff push.
In more ways than one.

5. Flames believe they have enough big-game experience to earn way into playoffs

“The big thing for me, I think, is playing in overtime situations,” Monahan said. “If you can do a good job in that type of environment, I think you feel comfortable whenever. Obviously, there’s a lot of pressure and everyone is excited in overtime, so I think if you can calm down in those situations, it kind of helps you out through any other situation.”

[killer_carlson]

this is the team that worries me the most if we were to squeak into the playoffs.

We need a win here to plant a seed of doubt with the Blues should we match up in April.

[Poe969]

Did anyone else read #4 as: Backlund spanking strong line at both ends of the rink. I mean he is playing good at both ends but I don't wanna hear about him spanking anyone. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

[nemanja2306]

Originally Posted by Poe969

Did anyone else read #4 as: Backlund spanking strong line at both ends of the rink. I mean he is playing good at both ends but I don't wanna hear about him spanking anyone. Not that there's anything wrong with that....

I see someone saw 50 shades of grey recently.

[codynw]

Got tickets for this one. Bailing on work at about 3 to drive up.

I unfortunately have a bad feeling about this one, though. The Blues are probably the best team in the West right now and it feels like they always win against the Flames.

Hope I'm wrong.

[PeteMoss]

Don't care for this game. Blues are good.

[Kaine]

Huge game, a win tonight would be a huge boost to our chances.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan

Trust me, I'd rather have slept in but I couldn't help but be wide awake at 4:30 (I'm in the Eastern time zone). I guess I'm training myself to run on a lack of sleep for the day my son arrives.

Haha. It's so cute you think you'll be prepared for the level of sleeplessness that awaits