Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
The Calgary Flames are back in action tonight when they square off against the Los Angles Kings for the 433rd time in the last month.
If the Flames can pull out a victory tonight they'll move within one point of San Jose and Edmonton for 2nd/3rd in the Pacific Division.
That's certainly a realistic, if not likely, possibility as a) the Kings can not score goals; b) they have won only 14 of 38 road games this season; c) they're in the latter half of a back-to-back vs a rested opponent and; d) they're essentially playing for nothing.
The Kings are as vulnerable as they have been in years and the Flames really need to take advantage of it.
Personally, I think playing San Jose or Edmonton in the divisional round, especially if the Flames can swing home ice, is preferable to being stuck with a Wild Card spot and facing either Chicago or Anaheim, both of whom are playing their best hockey of the season.
These are two massive points on the line.
Here are the expected line combinations for the Flames:
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Micheal Ferland
Kris Versteeg - Matt Stajam - Troy Brouwer
Lance Bouma - Sam Bennett - Alex Chiasson
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie - Michael Stone
Matt Bartkowski - Deryk Engelland
Brian Elliott
And the expected lines for the Kings (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Jarome Iginla
Tanner Pearson - Jeff Carter - Tyler Toffoli
Andy Andreoff - Nic Dowd - Jonny Brodzinski
Adrian Kempe - Trevor Lewis - Kyle Clifford
Derek Forbort - Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin - Paul Ladue
Brayden McNabb - Alec Martinez
Ben Bishop
A few notes:
1) Iginla has picked it up offensively since joining the Kings. He has scored four times in 12 games after finding twine just eight times in 61 games with the Avs. He's playing on the top line so he'll get every opportunity to make something happen in what could be his final game in Calgary.
2) Monahan has three multi-point games in his last five and is now just six points shy of matching his career high. I certainly wouldn't rule out matching (or surpassing) that total with the way he is playing right now.
3) Brian Elliott has allowed two goals or less in 13 of his last 16 starts. I think he has a good shot at making that 14 in 17 against a Kings team that has scored 13 times in the last eight games (1.625 per).
Tonight's game is scheduled for 9:00 eastern and can be seen on SN and FSW.
Recent posts:
On Monahan, Ferland, the Giordano - Hamilton pairing and more
On the Lazar trade, sticking with Elliott and more
Pacific Division bold predictions
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»