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Old 12-12-2014, 08:44 AM   #1
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Flames: 17-11-2, 36 points, 3rd in Pacific, 6th in West, 11th league.

Penguins: 18-6-3, 39 points, 1st in Metropolitan, 3rd in East, 7th league.

The Flames are beat up and struggling right now. 3 straight losses despite outplaying their opponent (even if only marginally so in some instances), and struggling to bury chances which are plentiful is taking a visible hit to the team's confidence. This is one of those stretches of true adversity that will show the makeup of this team. Will they bounce back and clean up the mistakes in their game or will they slowly fall into mediocrity over the course of the season? I think there's too much heart on this team to simply go quietly, so you'll likely see a very determined team tonight despite the back to back games on the road. The biggest problem has been the defense. Since Ramo's back to back shutouts the Flames have averaged more than 3 goals against per game. It's a disturbing trend that has to be addressed immediately, even if the offense suffers temporarily for it. I think the Flames, and their fans, would be satisfied with a 1-0 or 2-1 win at the moment. They need one of their goaltenders to come up with a big game, so tonight it's Hiller's turn to show that he can be a dominant goaltender again.

There's no point in talking about who has been good and bad over this last stretch, because almost nobody has been good enough and everyone has had mistakes and bad plays. People would like to say that chemistry was disrupted with returning veterans, well that's bullcrap. The team was starting to play more disorganized over the last couple weeks but were still getting wins. As a team, these guys need to come together, play tough, and stick to the system for a game or two. Get back to the successful strategies that won them games. Even though the Corsi and shots are at a much higher level, they are looking extremely sloppy and have very little cohesion as a unit. Hartley had them playing as a unified 5 man unit earlier, and that's the way they need to play to have success. Stats be damned, work hard as a group. All team's go through these stretches and come out the other side ok as long as they focus on doing the right things. The bounces will go our way again soon.

And they need those bounces tonight, facing a very good team in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Just for refence, we've lost 7 straight games against this team, dating back to 2007, so obviously we're due. The Penguins, like the Leafs, are an elite offensive team scoring more than 3 GF/G. They have the top power play in the league at almost 30%. They score way more than they give up 5 on 5 with a 1.38 ratio (ranked 3rd). They only average 2.33 GA/G and their PK is 4th at 86.1%. Fleury is having an excellent season with a 2.16 GAA and a .925 Sv%. Crosby is 1 point behind Seguin for the league lead (again), and Malkin has 33 points as well. Hell, even Comeau has 8 goals and 16 points on this team. They only have a couple regulars who are in the minus for plus/minus, and the previously much-malgined Christian Ehrhoff leads the team with a +13. There's no obvious weakness to this Penguins team, but the only saving grace is that this team is heavily banged up at the moment. Unfortunately, their stars will still be playing. This is a major gut check opponent for the Flames tonight, and after a 3 game losing streak, I will be watching closely to see if this team folds under the pressure or finds a way to get a win. The Flames have been a good road team all year, so it's not out of the realm of possibility to come away with a win, but it will take everyone pulling on the rope in the same direction.


No idea on any roster changes yet, so updates will be provided throughout the day. Hiller is the confirmed starter.

Flames
Colborne-Monahan-Byron
Gaudreau-Jooris-Hudler
Glencross-Granlund-Jones
Bollig-Bouma-Raymond

Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Smid-Engelland

Hiller

Crosby is at practice today despite missing practice yesterday. All indications are he will play. Hornqvist is still day to day with a concussion.

Penguins
Spaling-Crosby-Downie
Malkin-Sutter-Comeau
Klinkhammer-Goc-Megna
Sill-Ebbett-Adams

Ehrhoff-Bortuzzo
Scuderi-Despres
Dumoulin-Martin

Fleury


Go Flames Go!!!
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Old 12-12-2014, 08:49 AM   #2
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This'll be a really good test. They've lost 3 in a row and the pens are no slouch. If they do lose this one I think some fans here might go crazy.....

I'm predicting a 6-1 blowout for the Flames.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:06 AM   #3
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Spalling - Crosby - Downie?!?

WTF did Sid do to deserve that? That's like a demotion to the 3rd-4th line. No wonder he is on a terrible cold streak over the past 10-12 games.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:08 AM   #4
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Another great writeup CFF.

I think the Flames come out strong in this one for a change but are too gassed to take it. 3-2 Pens in OT or a late 3rd period goal.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:09 AM   #5
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2-1 loss to the Pens. Just have a feeling we're going to be frustrated from yesterday and come out swinging but can't get all the ducks in a row.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:09 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RyZ View Post
Spalling - Crosby - Downie?!?

WTF did Sid do to deserve that? That's like a demotion to the 3rd-4th line. No wonder he is on a terrible cold streak over the past 10-12 games.
There's literally nobody else. He makes any player around him better and almost all of their top wingers are injured.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:11 AM   #7
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I expect us to be badly outplayed on our way to a 2-1 victory in OT.

Rotoworld (via the Penguins official twitter account) is reporting that both Hornqvist and Letang are likely game-time decisions.

Last edited by Finger Cookin; 12-12-2014 at 09:15 AM.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:13 AM   #8
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Crosby confirms he will play.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:14 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RyZ View Post
Spalling - Crosby - Downie?!?

WTF did Sid do to deserve that? That's like a demotion to the 3rd-4th line. No wonder he is on a terrible cold streak over the past 10-12 games.
It's not a demotion at all since Kunitz and Hornqvist are both out. Look at that lineup who else would he play with? Sid can at least generate offence by himself, Mallin as we have seen needs a solid winger to play with which is why Comeau is in that position.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:14 AM   #10
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3-1 Penguinos
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:15 AM   #11
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I'm actually glad this game is happening. If we beat the Pens it will do a lot to restore lost confidence and cohesion. If we lose it's a loss in a back to back against a top team and will not make the Flames feel any worse than they already do.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:15 AM   #12
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You can put anyone with Sid and they'll light it up.

Man the Pens have 2 world class players and a good goalie in the lineup. That's all they have.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:17 AM   #13
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have a pretty good feeling about this one, flames will win tonight
stajan with the game-winner
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:18 AM   #14
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5-4 Flames. It's time that those shots start to hit the back of net.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:20 AM   #15
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It's long overdue for a Flames goaltender to stand on his head and steal one. Ball is in Hiller's court tonight.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:21 AM   #16
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I hope Hiller has a great game. For some odd reason, both Ramo and Hiller get hot at the same time and then don't play their best at the same time too. Hoping for Hiller to grab some wins in the next upcoming games.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:24 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluck View Post
It's not a demotion at all since Kunitz and Hornqvist are both out. Look at that lineup who else would he play with? Sid can at least generate offence by himself, Mallin as we have seen needs a solid winger to play with which is why Comeau is in that position.
I know, it's just strange to see the best player in the world playing between 2 guys that would be bottom 6 on any team in the league.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:54 AM   #18
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Get Raymond on Monahans line and put Byron on the 4th. Other than that, as happy as I can be with those lines. Really not that bothered tonight, just hope we don't get blown out. Crosby can't be totally over this illness if there were question marks over him yesterday. Whilst he could easily beat us on his own still suffering from sickness, hopefully he is off his game tonight.

But with their injuries, you can see its affected performance recently. Not won a game by 2 or more goals in their last 10. Come on Flames, lets pinch a point from this game somehow.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:55 AM   #19
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That top picture is infuriating.
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Old 12-12-2014, 09:57 AM   #20
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Everytime I predict the score, we always lose. So I'm changing things up and just hoping we play a solid game.
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