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Tonight the Calgary Flames look to extend their at home win streak to six straight games as they host the Nashville Predators.
Nashville is 10th in the Western Conference and four points ahead of Calgary with only one more regulation win than the Flames. They are a lot closer to a playoff spot than the Flames so it won’t be an easy game as the Predators try to avoid sliding down in the West.
The Predators weaknesses could play to the Flames strengths; they have had trouble scoring this season and like Calgary, they have been inconsistent on the road. If we see the same Kipursoff as we did against Detroit Wednesday night, he might just record his first shutout of the season! That being said, the Flames defense will need to be reliable in front of Kipursoff as they tend to disappear at times.
The blueliners should keep close to David Legwand who is on a four game point streak, in addition to Gabriel Bourque who leads in goals this season with 4 in their last 6 games played alone. They’ll also want to watch Nashville’s old faithfuls Mike Fisher and Shea Weber, who will probably see the most ice time tonight against their top lines.
In their last outing, the Preds pulled Pekka Rinne after allowing four goals on 12 shots, but he should be back in net tonight. Calgary will not want to let him settle in and get his confidence back, so the game plan should be to blitz the net with as many shots as they can. The Flames will need to play a full three periods of hockey tonight as they continue to struggle playing a full 60 minutes. Nashville is tough in the 3rd and has allowed the 2nd fewest goals in the league in the last period, so Calgary will want to start the first two periods heavy and end defensively in the 3rd as best they can.
On a side note, it looks like Cervenka will watch from the box again tonight. Hartley hasn’t been happy with his play and this will be his 2nd scratch since their loss in L.A. Having Backlund back after injury and Comeau play better, it allows Hartley to sideline the Czech. Still, I don’t think Comeau deserves to play over Cervenka as they are both at -7 and 8 penalty minutes but Cervenka has 8 points in 20 games compared to four points in 24 games for Comeau. Additionally, Cervenka plays well with Hudler and it would be nice to see Hartley try to further develop their chemistry as Cervenka was an AllStar in the KHL and has the potential to be successful for the Flames.
A win tonight will move the Flames out of last place, and depending on how Edmonton does tonight, they could also move ahead of the Oilers and tied with Columbus. If the Flames want to make it to the playoffs, tonight’s win is a must before they head out on the road. If they can’t find a way to win tonight, it could be all but over for the Flames this year as they push themselves further from 8th place.
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To deviate a little from tonight’s game, most of the chatter with respect to the Flames right now is: Where will Iginla end up? The three teams which have been discussed the most of late have been Boston, Pittsburgh, and LA Kings.
It’s rather tough to predict where, if at all, Iginla will be moved but I suppose looking at the three above mentioned clubs is a start. While I can see a level of interest from Boston and Pittsburgh as they look to be strong competitors for the Stanley Cup this year, I’m not so sure about the Kings. This is not to say that the Kings won’t be a strong competitor for the Cup this year, but I don’t feel they would show as much interest in a player like Iginla than would maybe the two other groups.
The consensus out of Pittsburgh seems that they need help on the backend moreso than in the scoring department, and I wonder if a deal centered around Bouwmeester would be more appropriate for them. While Iginla offers more than just offensive numbers, he might still be a good fit on a team hungry for a strong winger next to Crosby like the Penguins. Heck...maybe they ask for both!?
Moreover, I could see interest from the Canadians who have been playing quite well of late, and are a young team who could use some added size and grit to their lineup. I would hazard to say that we can accept the Habs will make the playoffs this year, and an addition like Iginla could really help with a solid run…but are they in a position to acquire a veteran like Iginla?
What do you guys think?
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