Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
The Calgary Flames continue their lengthy Eastern Conference road trip tonight as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Jackets have been one of the NHL's biggest early season surprises. They own an impressive 10-4-3 record to date and are currently holding down a playoff spot despite having played fewer games than every team in their conference.
I expect the Jackets will regress over time but their best players have been their best players and they've won a ton of games as a result. The same can not be said about Calgary.
Though I think the Jackets are playing over their heads, they will still be a tough test for the Flames tonight. Calgary is playing their third game in four nights, all of which have come on the road, while the Jackets are rested. They've also feasted on opposing teams at home having won seven of 10 and picked up at least a point in eight of those contests.
The good news is they're getting some reinforcements with Kris Versteeg, whose return allows Sam Bennett to move down the lineup and balance the offense a little bit. Let's see how much of a difference that makes.
Here are the expected line combinations for the Flames:
Kris Versteeg - Sean Monahan - Troy Brouwer
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett - Matt Stajan - Alex Chiasson
Micheal Ferland - Freddie Hamilton - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie - Dennis Wideman
Brett Kulak - Deryk Engelland
Chad Johnson
And the expected lines for the Blue Jackets:
Brandon Saad - Alex Wennberg - Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Cam Atkinson
Matt Calvert - William Karlsson - Josh Anderson
Scott Hartnell - Lukas Sedlak - Sam Gagner
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Ryan Murray - Jack Johnson
Markus Nutivaara - David Savard
A few notes:
1) It'll be difficult without last change but Glen Gulutzan should try and get the Backlund line out against Johnson's pairing as much as possible. He is the worst defenseman on their roster in terms of suppressing shots and scoring chances. The Backlund line would torch him.
2) Columbus' power play is tops in goals/60 and they are 6th in scoring chances/60. It could be another rough night for Calgary's penalty kill.
3) Only three PK units give up more scoring chances per 60 than Columbus. Calgary's power play should be able to generate offense tonight. Will they? Probably not.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 7:00 eastern and can be seen on SN-West and FS-Ohio.
Recent posts:
Flames suffer another setback with loss to Sabres
The Flames' top players need to be better
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Pacific Division bold predictions
Pacific Division breakout players
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»