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The Calgary Flames will open a five game road trip starting in Anaheim to take on the Ducks, Saturday against the Sharks, Monday in LA to take on the Kings, Tuesday in the desert against the Coyotes, and will in Dallas to try their luck against the Stars.
Face with a difficult challenge of three back to back games, the Flames will need to get off on a strong start if they are going to walk away with more than just two of a possible six points. That said, the Ducks are likely going to be their biggest challenge and unfortunately, that’s where they will start things off.
The Flames have had very poor luck playing at the Honda Center as they hold a record of 0-11-5 since 2004 - not very impressive to say the least. While this record was held over the past nine seasons or so, the Flames should not necessarily be compared to previous matchups given how the team appears to be skating to a different tune this season. Currently on a two game winning streak and having not lost a game in regulation, the Flames may actually present more of a challenge to the Ducks than they would like to account for.
Currently sitting tied in the Western Conference at 8pts each, the Ducks and Flames should ice a rather entertaining game tonight as one team is hot in terms of their work ethic and productivity from their youth, while the other has been receiving strong play from their top lines and starting tender Jonas Hiller. On a winning streak of their own with four high scoring games, Anaheim will look to extend that lead to five straight games against a “weak” conference team such as Calgary.
I am sure the Ducks coaching staff has been paying attention, but the Flames have been playing beyond many expectations this year and should not be taken lightly, as a few teams have found out this year. With rookie Sean Monahan dressing for his 6th game of the year who has points in the last four games, the Flames have some firepower of their own to offer in retaliation to the Ducks Perry and Getzlaf.
Furthermore, with Sven Baertschi playing as though he took Brian Burke’s recent comments to heart, the youngster doing quite well offering the team three points in five games for the year.
Where the Ducks will need to focus their attention on, however, are the remaining vets on the Flames roster who have been contributing some strong play of their own. Flames Captain Mark Giordano currently sits with 6pts in five games in addition to Juri Hudler who has a team leading 7pts.
As mentioned, Monahan is currently top three in scoring for the team with 6pts followed by an injured David Jones in addition to Lee Stempniak who aren’t far behind with 4pts of their own. What’s my point? Well, the Flames have all the tools available to them to score some goals and make it difficult on the Ducks tonight if they can get to a quick start.
If Calgary is going to find any success in these road games, they are going to have to hit the ice running and play the body, constantly. Playing teams such as Anaheim, San Jose, and LA who have some strong offense to offer, their defense and tending will be tested very often. With that said, it begins to make sense to me why the Flames coaching staff have elected to start Joey MacDonald for the 5th straight game given that he has had a few days of rest, and he is the most prepared for the feat.
While Karri Ramo certainly needs to start playing, and soon, tonight is ultimately not the best night for the netminder who would likely have a rough start to this season otherwise. Playing MacDonald who has provided the Flames several opportunities to win games so far is the wisest move at this point, and there is no doubt in my mind that Ramo gets the nod Saturday night in San Jose.
As the 22nd of October nears, and the decision to either keep Monahan up or send him down follows, the team will likely be testing the rookie in a few more areas of the game, including more ice time and responsibility. Not exactly the greatest test of readiness for the young forward, Monahan will need to have a few steady games on this road trip to convince the coaching staff that there is no reason to send him packing.
While there should be no expectation of posting another 3-4pts throughout the next three of four games, Sean will need not only need to post a few points during said games, but also show that his defensive coverage is improving to any degree really.
Something to note with the above mentioned is that Monahan started the year off with around 75% offensive starts and has since been given more neutral or defensive zone starts. Currently sitting at 60% OFS, it appears that Hartley has already begun test out the young center in bigger roles than simply to provide offense. While still among the highest list of players started on offense, Monahan has moved down the list with Baertschi now ahead of him with 62%.
Monahan currently sits at 50% for offensive face-offs taken so far, and 42% on defensive draws taken to date. With a total average of 46% in the faceoff dot, Sean will also need to continue working on this despite being 3rd overall on his team in that capacity.
Moving back to tonight’s game, the Ducks are coming off two wins as the beat up on the Rangers 6-0 and the Senators 4-1 last week. Both teams have had a few days rest since playing last and will likely hit the ice with fresh legs. Given that Anaheim and Calgary are 6th and 7th overall in G/G, respectably, expect many goals tonight as the two try and outscore each other.
Below are the expected lineups for tonight’s game.
Flames
Glencross - Street - Stempniak
Baertschi - Monahan - Hudler
Bouma - Backlund - Galiardi
Jackman - Colborne - McGrattan
Giordano - Brodie
Russell - Wideman
Butler - O’Brien
MacDonald
Ducks
Maroon – Getzlaf - Perry
Silfverberg - Perreault - Selanne
Cogliano – Koivu - Winnik
Palmieri - Bonino - Etem
Beauchemin - Lindholm
Allen - Vatanen
Lovejoy - Fowler
Hiller
That's all for today folks, thanks for reading!
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