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1. A better effort
The Boston Bruins are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender. There is no shame in losing to them. There is, however, shame in losing the way the Flames did.
After a solid 10-15 minutes to start the game, the Flames fell apart. They couldn't generate a thing offensively, their power play was abysmal (the Bruins got the better of the chances in almost 10 short-handed minutes), and they left their backup goaltender completely out to dry.
You can chalk some of that up to facing an excellent team but the effort and execution was simply not where it needs to be.
Tonight, the Flames are in Nashville to take on another Stanley Cup contender and they'll need a much better showing if they're going to walk away with two points.
They can't play one period of hockey and then decide it's up to a guy with 12 career games to his name to single-handedly beat an elite team.
2. Calgary's power play
The following teams have taken more penalties than Nashville this season:
- Anaheim
Yep, that's the list. If you look at penalties taken on a per game basis, Nashville is the most undisciplined team in the league.
They clearly can't stay out of the box at the best of times so I can only imagine how things will be going up against a pair of elite penalty drawers in Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau.
For better or for worse – likely the latter – the Flames' power play will almost certainly play a big role in deciding this game.
3. Offense from the defense
Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton, Roman Josi and Matt Irwin(!) all rank inside the top-20 in terms of shot attempts/60 at 5v5. Another big shooter just returned to Nashville's lineup in Ryan Ellis and P.K. Subban certainly doesn't hesitate to use his cannon – especially on the power play – so we should see the defense activating, shooting, and getting plenty involved in this one.
4. Two top lines
The Filip Forsberg - Ryan Johansen - Viktor Arvidsson trio gets a ton of hype, and for good reason, but the Kevin Fiala - Kyle Turris - Craig Smith line has quietly been dominant as well.
They've actually been better in terms of controlling the shots and chances, although both trios are fantastic. They just lag a little behind the top unit in terms of out-scoring their opponent but they're still elite in that regard as well.
The Flames' top two lines will have their hands full.
5. Pekka Rinne
Among 24 goaltenders with to play at least 1,500 minutes at 5v5 thus far, Rinne ranks 1st with an insane .937 save percentage.
He has really bounced back after a couple of mediocre regular seasons – especially by his standards – and re-established himself as one of the best goaltenders in the league.
Win or lose, I don't think the Flames will be scoring all that much tonight.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Micheal Ferland
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Sam Bennett - Mark Jankowski - Garnet Hathaway
Curtis Lazar - Matt Stajan - Ryan Lomberg
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie - Travis Hamonic
Brett Kulak - Michael Stone
David Rittich
Nashville Predators (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Filip Forsberg - Ryan Johansen - Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala - Kyle Turris - Craig Smith
Scott Hartnell - Nick Bonino - Calle Jarnkrok
Miikka Salomaki - Colton Sissons - Austin Watson
Roman Josi - Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm - P.K. Subban
Alexei Emelin - Yannick Weber
Pekka Rinne
Puck drop is just after 8:00 eastern and can be seen on SNW and FS-TN.
Recent posts:
Flames completely overmatched in loss to Bruins
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland line has been one of league's best this season
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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