[GDT] Flames vs. Rangers, 7 pm, SNF

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Here's one for the ladies on the site (requested by my wife):




Flames: 17-13-2, 36 points, 5th in the Pacific, 9th in West, 15th league.

Rangers: 14-10-4, 32 points, 4th in the Metropolitan, 8th in East, 18th league.


5 games…and counting? That is what will be determined tonight as two teams going in opposite directions meet at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The Flames were a team that early on was so resilient to not lose back to back games in regulation. Well that's out the window of late as the Flames come back from a pretty unfortunate road trip, losing all 4 games, and 5 straight overall. The defense was spotty, allowing glorious chances in games that they were otherwise quite solid in their own end, and of course, when you're slumping those chances end up in the back of your net. They seemed to correct that a little against Chicago as they allowed a power play goal on an excellent play, and an odd-man rush in the 3rd as they were pressing for the go ahead tally. Not a perfect defensive game, but an improvement nonetheless.

On the flip side, the Rangers have found their defensive swagger again, shutting out the Oilers hapless attack and keeping the Canucks to just 1 goal in a 5-1 win. Lundqvist was named the NHL's 3rd star last week going 3-0 with a 1.30 GAA including the shutout. It sounds intimidating, but the Rangers have an identical GA/G to the Flames at 2.62, ranking middle of the pack. However, this hot streak is bad news for a Flame squad who has had difficulty burying chances and creating 2nd and 3rd opportunities in their attack. Call it lacking a killer instinct. Call it learning how to win. Call it anything other than "regression to the mean", because the Flames have played arguably their strongest stretch of Corsi/Fenwick over the last 5 games. People will talk about regression of PDO, but realistically only the shooting percentage has diminished of late and the Sv% has been average for quite a while now. No, what you call it is a cold stretch, or a team struggling to find chemistry with the recent returnees, or a combination of both.

For the Rangers, there's one guy who isn't struggling: Rick Nash. 31 points in 28 games, with 18 goals and a +12. That's someone who has finally found his power forward game after a few down seasons. Martin St. Louis has found some chemistry with this team scoring 10 goals and 22 points in 28 games, after an unimpressive 1 goal and 8 points in 19 games down the stretch last year. This is good news for the Rangers because some of their offensive weapons are not fairing as well as previous years. Chris Kreider only has 4 goals after 17 last year. Stepan has just 2 goals on the year after 17 last year. Despite a couple of slumping players, the Rangers own the 5th best offense in the NHL at 2.96 GF/G. This is in large part due to their strong play 5 on 5 (1.24 ratio) overcoming an underperforming power play at just 14.9% (ranked 24th).

Some good news for Flames fans comes in the face-off dot, as the Rangers are only percentage points better than the Flames in the circle at 46.8%. The Flames have been poor all year, but Monahan has showed remarkable improvement currently sitting at 50.1% and often going against the other team's top face-off specialists. Monahan has taken by far the most on the team at nearly 700, more than double the player with the next most. Stajan hasn't played a lot, but when he has he's been good for 51.6%. Jooris has been a gamer, but despite a few strong games he still sit at 47.4%. Granlund has just not been strong on the dot, sitting at 36.2% better than only Jiri Hudler, Max Reinhart, and David Jones on the entire team. Yup, Johnny Gaudreau has a better percentage on the face-off dot than Granlund. The problem for the longest time is that the Flames were forced to use Jooris and Granlund at center because of the injury situation and both sit 2nd and 3rd in terms of number of face-offs taken. Without Backlund operating at 50.5% for the foreseeable future, the Flames face-off problem will still be an issue until someone other than Monahan steps up. It should be noted that even though the coaches like Colborne at wing, he's been solid at center sporting an improved 49.3% win rate compared to his 48.5% last year.

There's been a lot of talk from the Flames of late denying the need to panic or change a whole lot. I agree with the thought process, but it's time to put up or shut up tonight. The Rangers are on the road playing their 3rd game in 4 nights, but are a surprising 5-1-3 against the West. The Flames are only 6-7-2 against the East after the last road trip and need this win to match the record of the Sharks and Kings, two teams they are battling with for a playoff spot.


The Rangers are without their 2nd leading scorer, Derrick Brassard, as he has contracted the Mumps. Hartley on the recent outbreak:

"We organized, on a volunteer basis, about a week or two ago, that we could get [Mumps] shots," Hartley said. Don’t ask me how many of our players got the shots because when I went in -- I’m scared of needles -- my eyes were closed. Fans play big dollars to see NHL players and were dealing with injuries, now were dealing with sickness like flu and mumps.

"I’ve been in the NHL since ’98 and I think, I might be forgetting one or two, but that’s the worst case that I’ve ever seen."

No updates to the lineup yet, so these are merely from the last game. I wouldn't be shocked to see someone sat in favor of Bollig or McGrattan, and I think it's likely you see Potter in the lineup very soon. Updates will be provided throughout the day. No idea who gets the start tonight.

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

Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Diaz-Engelland

Ramo


Rangers
Nash-Miller-Zuccarello
Kreider-Stepan-St. Louis
Hagelin-Hayes-Stempniak
Glass-Moore-Fast

McDonagh-Girardi
Staal-Boyle
Moore-Klein

Lundqvist



Go Flames Go!!!

[gilligans_off]

I was hoping to see Potter get a chance to show how he's been "the best player" on the baby flames. Either way, go out there and get a win boys. GF,G!

[Vinny01]

Gotta get the W tonight boys!

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Hartley confirmed yesterday that Ramo will get the start.

[Derek Sutton]

First game I'm attending this year, Super Stoked.

[4oh3]

I'll be there !

[SofaProfessor]

Hey I'm going to the game too! First one of this season for me.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by gilligans_off

I was hoping to see Potter get a chance to show how he's been "the best player" on the baby flames. Either way, go out there and get a win boys. GF,G!

Treliving didn't call him Addy's best player, he called him their best defenseman.

[Poe969]

As long as we get more than 16 shots, I'll be happy.

[Scoutski]

Not really sure what my expectations are after the little lull.. not that I'm all doom and gloom, but I've certainly brought them back to earth.

Here's hoping the flames can pull one out, I'm going to call a 2-3 loss in a SO however.

[JBR]

4-1 winner.

[GioforPM]

Like the lines, except the bottom D. Give Potter a shot. As a callup he's more likely to play within himself than Diaz, who tries things he has no business trying.

[Huntingwhale]

Damn Lundqvist and his dreamy face

[J epworth]

As long as our forwards don't get lost in Lundqvist's eyes, we have a good shot at winning this game. Rangers have had 2 easy games here in Vancouver and Edmonton, coming into the dome seeing the Flames lose 5 straight. Total trap game for them, very easy for New York to put it in cruise control, Flames just have to take advantage of it if NY doesn't come out strong.

[Poe969]

Originally Posted by J epworth

As long as our forwards don't get lost in Lundqvist's eyes, we have a good shot at winning this game. Rangers have had 2 easy games here in Vancouver and Edmonton, coming into the dome seeing the Flames lose 5 straight. Total trap game for them, very easy for New York to put it in cruise control, Flames just have to take advantage of it if NY doesn't come out strong.

We're doomed. How do you not get lost in those eyes......

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Poe969

We're doomed. How do you not get lost in those eyes......

Gives us an excuse to go "God damn it, Lundqvist" even when the pucks miss the net entirely

[smalltownref]

Going to the game tonight. Sure hope the boys stick with it and can execute on scoring chances here. If there is a game to turn around your scoring confidence, it would be tonight against King Henrik.

[soreshins]

I'll be at the game too. We can do this!!!!!!

[nixon45]

3-2 Rangahs

[J epworth]

Derek Wills ‏@Fan960Wills 45s45 seconds ago Calgary, Alberta Karri Ramo gets the start in goal for #Flames vs. #Rangers tonight. #CGYvsNYR