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The Calgary Flames headed into the break with a massive and necessary win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
As a result, despite sitting idly for five days, they return from their bye just one point back of Los Angeles for the final Wild Card spot.
Most importantly, Los Angeles has only one game in hand while many around the Flames no longer have any. For the first time in months, any success the Flames have won't need to be met with the caveat that other teams have handfuls of games in hand. They no longer have to worry about one loss, followed by a couple days off, taking a big bite out of their playoff hopes. They're now in a position where if they get some results, the rest doesn't matter.
They have a chance to reclaim their playoff spot with a positive result tonight when they host the Arizona Coyotes.
By their standards, they have been playing better of late having equaled the Flames' total of five wins in their last 10 games.
The Coyotes are 29th in Corsi For% in that span, and 30th when it comes to controlling scoring chances, so despite their moderate success not much has really changed for them. They've just been riding the percentages (goalies have posted a .910% save percentage vs Arizona over the last 10).
They have been absolutely awful away from home soil this season, too, owning just six road victories in 25 contests.
At home, against a terrible team, this is pretty much the Flames' dream game coming out of the break. They need to take advantage of the favorable scheduling and win this game.
Here are the expected line combinations for the Flames:
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Troy Brouwer
Kris Versteeg - Sam Bennett - Alex Chiasson
Lance Bouma - Matt Stajan - Micheal Ferland
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie - Dennis Wideman
Jyrki Jokipakka - Deryk Engelland
Chad Johnson
And the expected lines for the Coyotes (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Tobias Rieder - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata
Max Domi - Alex Burmistrov - Jamie McGinn
Brendan Perlini - Christian Dvorak - Shane Doan
Lawson Crouse - Jordin Martinook - Ryan White
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Luke Schenn
Alex Goligoski - Michael Stone
Kevin Connauton - Connor Murphy
Mike Smith
A few notes:
1) There were a few rough starts sandwiched in between, but Chad Johnson has allowed two goals or fewer in six of his last nine starts. If he can keep the Coyotes to two or less tonight, the Flames should walk away with a win.
2) If you watched Vrbata play in Vancouver last season, you won't be too worried about him heading into tonight's game. If you've watched what he's done in Arizona, you will be. He has 36 points in 53 games, which is more than every Flame except Backlund, including eight points (and 37 shots!) in his last 10 games. He is pretty much the only pure scorer on the roster and the Coyotes feed him the puck like that's the case.
3) The Coyotes are at or near the bottom of the league in many categories when it comes to suppressing shots, shot attempts, chances and goals. The Flames should have no problem generating quality looks against them tonight. They just have to hope Mike Smith doesn't steal the game.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 9:00 eastern and can be seen on SNW and FS-A Plus.
Recent posts:
On Hamilton, getting shots on net, and a case of perception v reality
Flames top Pens, head into bye on a positive note
On Elliott, Bennett, riding the top-4 and more
The best and worst from the Flames' season to date
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Pacific Division bold predictions
Pacific Division breakout players
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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