Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
Following a disappointing effort in Winnipeg, the Calgary Flames are back at home tonight looking to rebound against the San Jose Sharks.
The Flames have had their share of ups and downs in the first half but the ship has been pretty steady of late having won six of their last 10.
They've not only picked up their share of wins, but have posted strong underlying numbers in the process as they're 3rd in Corsi For%, and 8th in Scoring Chance For%, in that 10-game span.
Similarly, the Pacific-leading Sharks have also won six of their last 10 and their high-powered offense has come to life scoring 31 goals (3.1 per game) in that frame. Their offense is approaching scary good territory.
The Flames do have a couple things working in their, though. The Sharks haven't been nearly as good on the road (11 wins in 21 games) as they have been at home (14 wins in 20 games). They're also in the latter half of a back-to-back having played last night against Edmonton.
The Flames need to take advantage of that as a win would not only gain them some separation from teams beneath them in the standings but could also get them within four points of top spot in the division. This is a big game.
Here are the expected line combinations for the Flames:
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Alex Chiasson
Kris Versteeg - Sam Bennett - Micheal Ferland
Lance Bouma - Matt Stajan - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie - Dennis Wideman
Jyrki Jokipakka - Deryk Engelland
Chad Johnson
And the expected lines for the Sharks (via dailyfaceoff.com):
*expected to play due to back-to-back
Timo Meier - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Kevin Labanc - Logan Couture - Joonas Donskoi
Patrick Marleau - Chris Tierney - Joel Ward
Mikkel Boedker - Michael Haley - Melker Karlsson
Paul Martin - Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun
Brendan Dillon - Dylan DeMelo
*Aaron Dell
A few notes:
1) The Sharks are 3rd in shot generation on the power play and top-10 in scoring chance generation. They're loaded with firepower and are not a team you want to mess around with. Keep things 5v5.
2) Discipline is always key, but it's particularly important to keep things at a level playing field tonight. Why? Of late, the Flames have been a lot better than the Sharks at 5v5. Over the last 10 games, the Flames have controlled ~54% of the shot attempts and 52.6% of the scoring chances while the Sharks have controlled ~48% and 49.6% in that same span.
3) The Flames need their forwards to backcheck as hard as they forecheck and make sure they close quickly on the defense (most importantly Burns). Burns is a one-man shooting gallery and is extremely active in jumping into the play and getting involved offensively. The Flames need to stick to him like glue. If he gets any time and space he's going to make them pay.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 9:30 eastern and can be seen on SN, SN1, and CSN-CA.
Recent posts:
Flames fall to Jets, waste opportunity to gain separation
On Backlund's two-way play, Versteeg, and the expansion draft
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Pacific Division bold predictions
Pacific Division breakout players
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»