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

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Spoiler!

Flames: 31-22-3, 65 points, 4th in the Pacific, 8th in the West, 15th in NHL.

Bruins: 28-20-7, 63 points, 4th in the Atlantic, 8th in the East, 17th in NHL.


This is a battle of two teams holding on to the last playoff spot in their respective conferences. The Bruins are far from their President's Trophy winning form, but to be fair they've lost some key players through free agency and trade, and some of the remaining key players have been injured for large chunks of the year. It's a team that's in the early stages of transition from their veteran players to their younger players. It won't happen overnight, but they'll move from Chara to Hamilton, Bergeron to Pastrnak, Lucic to Smith. The Bruins have some very good young pieces to build around, and some very good veterans who can still contribute, but they just haven't put it together for much of this season. Their year has been marred by long stretches of very inconsistent play, but they've also had 2 separate 5 game winning streaks. They're a tough team to figure out, and there's talk of speeding up a retooling process by trading away guys like Chara and Lucic before their values are entirely gone. This most recent stretch has been very troubling for Bruins fans. Losing 3 straight and 4 of their last 5, they've given up 10 goals in their past 2 games, and have only scored more than 2 goals once in the last 5.

The Bruins offensive attack has been poor all year, managing only 2.58 GF/G (22nd in NHL). For comparison, the Flames have the 11th ranked offense at 2.84 GF/G. The Bruins' leading scorer, Patrice Bergeron, has 37 points which ranks him 75th in the league. Yes, they have some decent depth, but no top line talent this year. David Krejci has been hurt for a large chunk of the year, but that's the only offensive weapon that has missed significant time. When Carl Soderberg comes out of nowhere to be your 2nd leading scorer, you're probably in trouble, despite the good d-man numbers from Dougie Hamilton and Torey Krug.

Defense and goaltending are still the strong suit of this Bruins team, and they lean heavily on them. Tuuka Rask has played the 5th most minutes of any goalie in the league, and owns a very good 2.32 GAA and .922 Sv%. The Bruins as a team have given up 2.47 GA/G, good for 8th in the entire league, despite the fact that their SA/G are at 29.8, ranked 19th. For comparison, the Flames have given up 28.2 SA/G, ranked 8th, leading to a top 10 defense at 2.55 GA/G. Both of these teams are good 5 on 5 having identical ratios at 1.06, and both have nearly identical power plays around 17.3%. The Bruins PK is yet another top 10 unit for the flames to face, operating at 83.8%, so it will be tough sledding for a power play that has improved of late.

Despite the even stats this year, the Bruins have dominated the Flames in recent years. They won both matches last year by shutting the Flames down offensively, allowing just 1 goal against in 2 games. They didn't play the year before due to the lockout shortened schedule, meaning the 3rd most recent meeting was the famed 9-0 debacle that spelled the beginning of the end for Brent Sutter. Of course, that's ancient history, and this is a very different Flames team than the one that suffered that awful fate 3 years ago, but the Flames still have to prove they can beat some of these teams that have given them problems in the past. Not only that, their record against the East doesn't inspire confidence at even a limping opponent like the Bruins, and we all know how dangerous an injured bear can be. The Bruins are desperate for a win, as their lead over the Panthers for the final playoff spot has slipped to just 3 points, and while the Flames are also desperate to win again, they probably feel a little better about themselves after beating the Canucks for the 2nd time in a row on Saturday. Whoever comes out with more fire in this one will walk away with the 2 points, that's all there is to it at this point.

Roster Notes: No major roster shakeups for either team. Smid is still out for the foreseeable future with no timeline for his return. Ramo gets his 2nd consecutive start after gutting out the win on Saturday. No significant injuries to report for the Bruins.

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

Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Diaz-Engelland

Ramo

Bruins
Lucic-Krejci-Pastrnak
Marchand-Bergeron-Smith
Kelly-Soderberg-Eriksson
Paille-Campbell-Cunningham

Chara-Hamilton
Seidenberg-McQuaid
Krug-Miller

Rask




Go Flames Go!!!

[kyuss275]

As Cali has pointed out, this is not the Bruins of yesteryear. Very winnable game for the flames. Flames need this win not only for the fight of playoff spot, but to get some confidence going against eastern teams. After this home stand flames go east for a long haul.

[Locke]

Its my first game of the year to go to, I'm bringing my daughter for her birthday, so lets kick some ass and take some names!

[calgaryboy]

Originally Posted by Locke

Its my first game of the year to go to, I'm bringing my daughter for her birthday, so lets kick some ass and take some names!

Enjoy!!!! Hope you will bring luck :-))) Go Flames!!!!!

[Rick M.]

Great write up as always Cali. Those pics had me looking for the liniment! GFG!

[killer_carlson]

I want Wolf or Bollig in the lineup.

[Robo]

ewww an eastern team seems we never show up against them

[dammage79]

Yup a little Wolf would be a smart idea for tonight.

[ah123]

@MarkDivver: Hearing that Malcolm Subban is about to be called up by Boston. Strength coach Paul Kenny to dress as backup goalie for PBruins today.


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[Trailer Fire]

I grew up with the Cunningham's. I played mostly with Craig's older brother Ryan but spent a few years as Craig's centre in Bantam. Here's to hoping for a massive blowout, but Cunny nets one or two.

[Boblobla]

I would love to see Wolf on that 4th line but I am not sure who you pull out. I guess Byron but he has been playing well.

[cKy]

My 2 favorite teams go head to head. The 1 day a year I miss not living in Calgary any more. I guess for complete selfish reasons, I want this game to go to a shootout and the Flames win. Get them a valuable 2 points, and help the Bruins get 1.

Bruins just dont have that jam that they used to have. Chiarelli said he didnt want them to play like d-bags anymore (paraphrasing of course), and you can tell that the Bruins are still learning how to adapt. They dont really seem to have the roster that is built for an all speed\skill game that they seem to want.

Be an interesting trade deadline for the Bruins. Do they feel they can compete if they make the play-offs? Or do they try to unload some guys like Lucic and Kelly for some picks and younger help up front.

Marchand is having a bit of a bounce back year, and I think has toned down his $%it disturber attitude more, which has helped his game.

For anyone who doesnt watch "Behind The B", I highly recommend it. It's available on the Bruins website, or Youtube. It's narrated by Denis Leary, and is pretty homer - but gives some good inside\background stuff you dont normally see.

Going to be a 4-3 win for the Flames, in OT.

[The Hendog]

The Bruins were at Vintage for a team dinner on Saturday night.
I now understand how huge Chara is and that was without skates!

[AcGold]

Chara's strength in the behind the B episodes was ridiculous. One of the best athletes in history. Should be interesting watching Johnny try to go around him, Zdeno is nearly two Johnny's.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Just win some godamn games against the east, please

[sureLoss]

Morning skate confirms. Flames are going with same lineup as against Vancouver

[Always Earned Never Given]

Originally Posted by AcGold

Chara's strength in the behind the B episodes was ridiculous. One of the best athletes in history. Should be interesting watching Johnny try to go around him, Zdeno is nearly two Johnny's.

Why go around him when he can go through him (between his legs!)

[jschick88]

Wonder what the Bruins are up to. Would have to assume one of Rask or Svedberg is sick or injured.

@MarkDivver Hearing that Malcolm Subban is about to be called up by Boston. Strength coach Paul Kenny to dress as backup goalie for PBruins today.

[N-E-B]

We have more points than the Boston Bruins with less than 30 games to go... Who would have picked the Bruins to be the underdogs at this game at the start of the year?

Go Flames! I still hold a grudge from that 9-0 game a few years back, hope we get some revenge!

[stemit14]

Hoping for a big night for Johnny. He had some great looks the other night against the Canucks and that line was dynamite all game. Flames win 4-2. Johnny with a goal and 2 assists.