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The Calgary Flames will host the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight in what may seem like a reunion to some. Having several ex-Leaf players on their roster, and even management staff, the Flames will look to use said players to their advantage tonight against their former clubs.
With Matt Stajan centering the first line and Joe Colborne appearing to be starting on the second line, the two will certainly be looking forward to play their old club. Colborne, who has been off to a patchy start with the Flames, was somewhat let go of by the Leafs organization due to the fact that they didn’t have a spot for him in their roster and should be excited about tonight’s game.
“There are a lot of guys you get to be close with,” Colborne told the Calgary Herald. “Jake Gardiner and I, we still talk probably four or five times a week, just texts, keeping up to date. We’ve been close friends for two, three years now. So it’s fun to catch up with those guys. But I’ll be looking forward to finally getting the chance to run him through the boards, maybe.”
Aside from these two mentioned, the Flames would also like to have former Leaf Lee Stempniak join them for the game, however Stempniak is out indefinitely with a broken foot and will have to watch from the sidelines. With respect to Toronto, former Flames defenseman Dion Phaneuf should also be excited to play against his former team, too.
Coming off a late game last night against the Oilers, I expect the Leafs to be a little tired tonight as they play back to back road games. That said, the Flames haven’t played since Saturday and should be well rested. Having a stronger start than most expected for the club this year, Calgary may be more of a challenge tonight for Toronto than were their Albertan rivals last night.
With a strong performance against a struggling Oilers group, Toronto is likely to come into tonight’s game with a little too much confidence. If the Flames are to find any success, it’s going to be by coming out of the gates with a lot of speed and intensity, playing the body as much as they can and throwing everything at the net.
Without Mark Giordano who is out 6-8 weeks with a broken ankle, the Flames will need to keep the puck out of their own end as best as they can to avoid having the league’s top scoring team find the back of the net. Without two of their most productive vets however, the Flames may have a rough go tonight against Toronto who has been playing well, despite what the two vets think.
“I feel like the team is playing well and to not be a part of it is tough,” Stempniak said.
“One guy coming in and out of the lineup isn’t going to change the way we play,” Giordano said. “Guys have done a great job. I’d like to be around the guys as much as possible. Obviously being hurt you’re not in it as much as when you’re playing. You almost feel it’s a letdown for the team, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”
Calgary will focus a lot on Dennis Wideman and Kris Russell as their top defensive pairings without Giordano available. Russell who has been playing very well of late managed above 27 minutes of ice time Saturday night against Washington, and will likely be played quite a bit tonight as well. While there have been no call-ups yet to replace Giordano, I do expect something to happen very shortly.
As noted, the Flames will need to play a very high tempo game against Toronto to keep their chances even. Calgary has been able to find the back of the net often this year, although their problem continues to be not allowing goals scored against their own team. Despite holding a better record when historically compared, the Flames are a different team this year and could offer more of a challenge than previous years have displayed.
However, playing against the 3rd strongest power-play in the league, Calgary will need to stay out of the box as an attempt to not give Toronto any extra chances to bury a goal or two as they hold the 3rd worst PK in the league, themselves.
Additionally, the top line for Toronto has been on fire with Kessel coming off a four point night against Edmonton and as such, they will need to keep that first line at bay by forcing the play to the corners and playing the body.
For the Flames, Sven Baertschi has been slowly improving his game of late and will be looked upon for added offense given that Stempniak is down. Sean Monahan and Jiri Hudler are likely going to be the primary targets for the Leafs to shut down and as such, Calgary will need veteran Mike Cammalleri to step up his own game tonight.
Karri Ramo is expected to start for the Flames tonight as he has played quite well during his last few games. With a strong performance stopping 27 against Washington this weekend, Ramo should be coming into the game with a little more confidence than we have seen in previous bouts.
Furthermore, a certain defender who has taken a lot of flak from fans for his poor play has taken strides in his own confidence and play. With a much better game on Saturday night than we have seen in a while, Chris Butler is taking every opportunity with added ice time and responsibility to try and redeem himself and help his team win.
“That first game, everyone always feels a little bit sluggish,” Butler said. “But for whatever reason, guys had tremendous jump. I don’t know if that’s always going to be the case when we come back from a long road trip. I think everyone felt extremely fresh for that game. We were coming off a day off . . . it was the type of game we needed to play. Granted, it was exhausting to play that way every night. But we have to find a way to simulate that every shift. If we can work that hard, we’re going to have some success.”
“Every player — you ask Derek Smith, you ask Shane O’Brien, you ask anyone on this team — if they want extra responsibility, the answer is pretty simple and very easy and it’s ‘yes,”‘ Hartley said. “It’s up to you when you get that chance to really make the best of it.
Below are the expected lines for tonight’s game from both sides. If anything changes I will update the blog.
Flames
Glencross – Stajan - Jones
Cammalleri – Colborne - Galiardi
Baertschi – Monahan - Hudler
Bouma – Backlund - McGrattan
Butler - Brodie
Russell - Wideman
O’Brien - Smith
Ramo
Leafs
van Riemsdyk – Kadri - Kessel
Raymond - Bolland - Clarkson
Ashton - McClement - Orr
McLaren - Smith - Bodie
Gunnarsson - Phaneuf
Rielly - Franson
Ranger - Gardiner
Liles
Bernier
That’s all for today folks, thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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