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Well not to say that I necessarily “called it”, but I do recall saying that the defensive and net presence of the Calgary Flames will present a challenge to the struggling Hurricanes and they did just that.
Winning 5-0 over Carolina, the Flames secured two additional points and have now moved up to 4th in the Western Conference and have secured their 5th win of the season. To put that into perspective, only 6 teams in the entire NHL have secured 5 or more wins so far this season with most teams playing around 8 games. Solid start for the good guys!
With respect to the game itself, I mentioned that Hiller could be a guy to bet on especially if you need some help between the pipes in your fantasy league. Hiller has stopped 99 of 101 shots faced over his last three games with Calgary and now sits with a 1.78 GAA and .948 SV%....not too shabby I’d say!
"We spent most of the time in their zone so it was definitely not as tiring as other games I’ve played this year," said Hiller. "You could see out there that everybody was willing to compete and to sacrifice, even blocking shots until the end. Even in the third when we were up 5-0, guys were still working hard and then blocking shots. That’s obviously a nice feeling."
And that’s just it – while the Flames have been playing some strong team defense, they spent the majority of the night in the Hurricanes end with several scoring chances, second efforts, and overall commanding play. The team who seemingly struggled with their systems early on appeared to have find some cohesiveness of late and have some confidence in their step…or skate.
Rookie Sean Monahan potted two goals last night which would put him at 4pts for the year and 38pts in 84 NHL games to date. As many made note of, this young player is expected to put up some points and help the Flames battle through their rebuild. I would suggest scooping him up if you already haven’t in any fantasy leagues in which you may partake.
"Obviously it’s been quite a few games now," said Monahan. "I want to contribute, to help get wins, and I think that was a big relief for me tonight."
"Sooner or later, a guy with that skill is going to break out," said Colborne. "I was just happy I was able to be a part of it. All the boys on the ice and on the bench were happy for him. Right now, If I was a fantasy hockey player, I’d have him in the lineup for the next little while. He’s going to get hot."
And while Monahan looked good last night, who has impressed me a lot of late has been Joe Colborne. His line has been very productive so far this season and the young man appears to be on a mission to prove his worth to the NHL world. Colborne currently leads the team with 8 assists and has been part of much of the Flames early success this year.
He has been skating with more authority, has created many offensive chances but has also been quite responsible defensively as well. Colborne has received a lot of criticism over his young career for being a “soft” player without much drive.
Well, if his play continues, I can certainly say that he will quickly shush many pundits around the league and earn some respect from his opponents as well. And when asked about his third line, coach Bob Hartley noted, "That’s the kind of performance that they were giving us and certainly that’s the kind of performance that we need from them."
The Flames will square off against the Washington Capitals tomorrow night and I expect a much closer game as the Capitals have been looking to string a few wins together.
Provided that Calgary can shut down Ovechkin and his line, they could find themselves on quite the hot streak and walk away with a few extra points!
Thanks for reading!
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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