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The Calgary Flames conclude a seven-game homestand tonight when they play host to the St. Louis Blues.
The Flames have faced some quality opponents during this stretch – most notably Pittsburgh and Dallas – but you could certainly argue the best has been saved for last.
The Blues are off to a spectacular 13-4-1 start, are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, and sit atop the Western Conference.
They're full marks for their record, too, as they've been strong in possession, rank 4th in Expected Goals For%, and 1st in Expected Goals Against/60, meaning they give up as little as anyone defensively.
While their record may not show it, the Flames have quietly played some excellent hockey of late controlling almost 55% of the attempts and more than 56% of the chances over the last eight games.
These teams are both at the top of their games right now so this should be a fun matchup.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Michael Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett - Mark Jankowski - Jaromir Jagr
Kris Versteeg - Curtis Lazar - Troy Brouwer
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie - Travis Hamonic
Brett Kulak - Michael Stone
Mike Smith
St. Louis (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Vladimir Tarasenko
Vladimir Sobotka - Paul Stastny - Alex Steen
Dmitrij Jaskin - Oskar Sundqvist - Magnus Paajarvi
Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak - Chris Thorburn
Carl Gunnarsson - Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson - Colton Parayko
Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo
Jake Allen
Five things to watch:
1) The marquee matchup will be the battle between St. Louis' top unit and the 3M line, who will no doubt see a steady dose of each other at 5v5 this evening.
While the St. Louis unit possesses more offensive ability, both lines dominate play territorially on a nightly basis.
2) I've talked about Ferland a lot of late and for good reason – he's playing the best hockey of his career. He has tallied seven points and 25 scoring chances at 5v5 over the last eight games and leads the team in high-danger chances per game. He's not a passenger on the top unit.
3) Bennett's first 11 games: eight 5v5 chances.
Bennett's last five games: 11 chances.
He's been much more dangerous with the puck and, now that he has his 1st point under his belt, I don't think it'll be long before his 1st goal follows.
4) Of St. Louis' top eight players in 5v5 shot attempts, five are defensemen. For perspective, Calgary has two defensemen inside their top-8 for 5v5 attempts. The Blues use the points a ton and have some guys who can really wire it (most notably Colton Parayko), so the Flames will have to stick to their points.
5) Smith has allowed 12 goals over his last three starts and owns a .870 save percentage in that span. He looked a little worn down and lost some of his sharpness, so perhaps three full days off without a game is just what he needed.
Puck drop is just after 9:00 eastern and can be seen on SNF and FS-MW.
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