[GDT] Oylahz @ Flames, 7:00 PM MT (SN1, SNW, SNE, SNO, TVAS / Fan 960)

[Cheese]

Calgary Flames 8-7-1: (No official lineup yet)

Tkachuk-Lindholm-Mangiapane
Gaudreau-Monahan-Simon
Lucic-Bennett-Dube
Froese-Nordstrom-Leivo

Hanifin-Tanev
Giordano-Valimaki
Andersson-Mackey

Markstrom


Edmonton Oilers 10-8-0: (No official lineup yet)

The Nuge-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Ennis-Draisaitl-Yamamato
Kahun-Khaira-Archibald
Turris-Haas-Chiasson

Nurse-Barrie
Russell-Larsson
Koekkoek-Bouchard

Smith


Season Series
Calgary 1-0-0 6 GF
Edmonton 0-1-0 4 GF
Previous scores
Feb. 6: CALGARY 6, Edmonton 4
Team scoring leaders vs. opponent
FLAMES vs. OILERS
Mikael Backlund 1-2-3 +2
Milan Lucic 1-1-2 +2
Dillon Dube 1-1-2 +1
Johnny Gaudreau 1-1-2 -1
OILERS vs. FLAMES
Connor McDavid 1-1-2 -1
Jujhar Khaira 1-0-1 +1
Jesse Puljujarvi 1-0-1 E
Darnell Nurse 1-0-1 -1


Game Night


CHECKING THEIR PULSE

Flames bench boss Geoff Ward was seething after Wednesday’s 5-1 pummelling from the Vancouver Canucks, saying he’s fed up with the inconsistency that has plagued his squad. “It’s time for us to start giving a (bleep) about it,” he bristled. Whenever the coach publicly questions your give-a-rip, you better be flying in the next outing — especially if it’s against an arch-rival.

FIRST THINGS FIRST

The Oilers top the league with 24 first-period tallies. That’s a terrifying stat for the Flames, who have an awful habit of falling behind early. They’ve scored the first goal of the evening in only six of their 16 outings, although they have pulled off several comeback wins. They’d rather not spot McDavid’s men an early lead.



Flames: PP 21.3% (16th), PK 79.6% (18th)
Oilers: PP 24.6% (12th), 75.0% (T-23rd)


INJURIES
Oilers: D Ethan Bear (concussion), RW Zack Kassian (hand), D William Lagesson (upper body), D Oscar Klefbom (shoulder)
Flames:C Derek Ryan (finger)



You can buy 50/50 tickets here: cflam.es/5050

[Moneyhands23]

I guess we will see if the team has some heart and where they stand as a room this weekend

[Erick Estrada]

No idea what to expect as I relish the idea of the Flames facing Smith and thing the Flames should be able to expose him. However I would not be surprised if the Flames get blown out given their efforts against a struggling Canucks team.

[Toonage]

Fan 960 brings up an interesting point.

The Flames aren't going to start Markstrom tonight, are they?

And on that topic, if Ward could just settle down and go with some common sense lines (ie: just leave the D pairs that were solid to start the year) that would be great too.

And settle down with the blender while we're settling down.

[Huntingwhale]

Hoping for the best. Expecting the worst. Win or lose, the PGT is gonna be a ####show again.

[bubbsy]

Should be an interesting game tonight. Could go either way.

Getting 3 out of 4 would sure help get things back on the rails.

[flambers]

If the Flames play another inconsistent type of game, the Oilers will win this by a large margin.

Flames need to play a solid 3 periods.... They can't afford to play the style they did in the previous series

[hwy19man]

Pregame links
http://sportsstats.cbc.ca/hockey/nhl...review_10.html
http://sportsstats.cbc.ca/hockey/nhl...ummary_10.html
https://scores.nbcsports.com/nhl/pre...3&home=3&vis=6

[Mr.Coffee]

How much effort tonight from the boys?

0, 5, 10 mins maybe even a whole period?! Tune in tonight on millionaires going through the motions.

[Royle9]

I'd love to see guys like Gio, Monahan etc show some grit and effort and scrum it up a bit tonight. No emotion tonight at all basically means a loss, I think if we get down early on this one we're not coming back.

Hell... even Tkachuk as he's let that slide the last few games since being criticized for it.

Rhett's rant on 960 pretty much nailed it, I hope management listened to it though I think it applies to Brad too, quit sitting around and do something. Maybe the owners will hear it and make the call.

[442scotty]

Cant wait to see how tonight’s game unfolds! Oh to be a fly on the wall in that dressing room.

[Mull]

Beat the oilers and post game announce Ward has been let go.
Give us 2 wins tonight.

[Roof-Daddy]

Yeah, this 2 game set makes me nervous.

Flames have been playing like crap, and losses to this useless franchise hurt way more than other.

[madmike]

Keeping my expectations low. The team has been very poor as of late.

[Bleeding Red]

Flames bench boss Geoff Ward was seething after Wednesday’s 5-1 pummelling from the Vancouver Canucks, saying he’s fed up with the inconsistency that has plagued his squad. “It’s time for us to start giving a (bleep) about it,” he bristled.

Maybe he should do something about it then - Take a player of the PP, Bench a top line guy, Scratch a poor performer, whatever happened to bag skates?

I think he's afraid to scratch/bench Tkuchuk or Gio. I think he's afraid to move Lindholm to the wing. I think he's afraid to tell the PP to stop the bump-back pass to JG.

Players are running the show and believing their own hype.

[Toonage]

Throwing a swear out there like he did was just as phony as the stick throw was in my opinion. Trying to manufacture emotion.

[Lanny_McDonald]

McDavid and Draisaitl are both on fire and playing hard (for them). They're should feast on the Flames give aways. If Rittich is in net I think this gets ugly early and the Flames get blown out. Something big needs happen for this organization to wake up. Maybe a blow out to the Oilers will be that event?

[Camronius]

With Kassian on our side, how can we lose??

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLeajHCA...=16zajdaubowpa

[zukes]

Season turning point tonight. If they come out with jump and effort and win, then I believe that this team will be fine, make the playoffs and who knows from there. If they come out flat again with minimal effort, put a fork in them.

[Mull]

Originally Posted by Camronius

With Kassian on our side, how can we lose??

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLeajHCA...=16zajdaubowpa

Imagine facing your teammates after that.

Is he still on IR?