The Calgary Flames come into San Jose with a 7-4 record in November and scoring 40 goals over that span for an average of 3.64 GF/gm. The Flames have had their doubters, and I've been one of them, but they are still winning games keeping pace in the standings. They’re 5th in the West while maintaining one of the league’s worst possession statistics. Their season is comparable to what Colorado did last year, riding a high PDO and a low Fenwick%. However, the bottom line is this: they’re ahead of the Sharks in the West at even games played.

All that aside, the Sharks need to win this game.

Getting a point in each of the last two games was cute but it’s not going to get you anywhere in the Western Conference when you’re out of a playoff position. Teams above and below the Sharks have games in hand and San Jose needs to find a way to start collecting two points in their games or they will slide further down the ladder.

Matt Tennyson was recalled from Worcester in the American Hockey League when Adam Burish cleared waivers and I would assume it’s not so he can sit in the booth and eat popcorn at an NHL game.

The Demers trade left San Jose with one less right handed shot in their lineup. Enter Tennyson. If he does play he will most likely be seeing 3rd pairing time, with Dillon remaining with Brent Burns and the Vlasic/Braun pairing staying in-tact.

Who will be the odd man out? Your guess is as good as mine. Mueller/Irwin/Hannan have all found themselves in McLellan’s doghouse at some point during the season so it could be any of the three. If it was my choice I’d sit Irwin and Hannan. If they want to keep the even split of left and right defenders you have to believe Irwin or Hannan’s days with San Jose are numbered.

With Alex Stalock still two weeks away from returning (going off the 2-4 week recovery from his surgery date) and the Sharks long break between games I’d say it’s a safe bet to assume Antti Niemi will be between the pipes tonight. After how he’s played over the last several games the net should be Stalock’s when he returns to the lineup.

The forward lines were given another trip in the blender during the break in games and resulted in Tye McGinn playing with Marleau and Couture, with Nieto either heading to the fourth line or a healthy scratch. The Sharks are carrying 8D right now so that means that if he’s out, John Scott will make an appearance. Scott hasn’t played since November 11th and his last game before that was October 26th but with McLellan well aware his job is in jeopardy I can’t see him bringing Scott in over Nieto.

I’ll throw some projected lines out for tonight, though I don’t agree with them:

Hertl-Thornton-Pavelski
Marleau-Couture-McGinn
Goodrow-Sheppard-Wingels
Nieto-Desjardins-Kennedy

Vlasic-Braun
Dillon-Burns
Mueller-Tennyson

Niemi

Keys to the Game:

Pressure the Calgary Defense

The Flames have two of the hottest D-men in the league right now in Giordano and Brodie so it’s not going to be all sunshine and lollipops in the offensive zone, but they can be possessed against. There’s nothing glorious about their 5v5 Fenwick% (48.78% and 47.77% respectively to lead the Flames D) so the opportunity is there to get chances for San Jose, they just need to capitalize on them and keep the top two blue-liners in their own zone as much as possible.

Don’t Cheat

Often when things aren't going your way and you aren't getting the bounces on offense players tend to cheat out of position to give themselves a boost. It never works. Stay on the task at hand and don’t overcompensate. The goals will come if you take control of possession and take shots from high percentage areas. This will be especially important for the struggling offensive players like Hertl and Nieto. It’s also true for McGinn should he play in the top six tonight. Don’t try to be something your not, play your game and don’t try to do anything fancy.

Goaltending

Assuming it’s Niemi in goal he needs to find his simplistic form again. Routine saves absolutely need to be stopped for San Jose right now. The goal well is dry and the forwards can’t be counted on to bail the netminder out of a jam currently. No floaters or beach-balls can get into the cage tonight or it’s going to be another disappointing result. The Flames offense is on fire, no pun intended, so they’ll be ready to come out with a game plan something along the lines of shelling the Sharks goaltender with as many shots as possible.

It should be a good game. Calgary is surprising everyone right now with their position in the standings and, while the probability of them sustaining those results with how they’re playing is low, the Avalanche sent the advanced stats guru’s for a loop doing the exact same thing last year.

The Sharks need to come ready to play for sixty minutes, end of story.

Thanks for reading.

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