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Five things to watch for when the Calgary Flames take on the Arizona Coyotes:
1. Arizona's top line
On paper a line of Richard Panik, Derek Stepan and Clayton Keller doesn't seem overly scary. On the ice it has been. In 140 minutes together at 5v5, they have controlled better than 54% of the scoring chances and out-scored opponents 9-5.
They'll be another stiff test for Mikael Backlund's line, which has remained surprisingly good defensively even without Matthew Tkachuk.
2. More of the same
The Sam Bennett, Mark Jankowski, Micheal Ferland trio was fed lunch last time out. Bennett led the bunch with an 18CF%(!!) and they logged less ice than anyone at 5v5. Though each player is useful, it wasn't entirely surprising they struggled considering none of them are play drivers. The good news is the line has been broken up. The bad news is Curtis Lazar has found his way on it. He has the worst relative possession numbers on the team so we probably shouldn't expect much better from the 3rd line in this one.
3. Salt in the wound
In the off-season
I suggested Antti Raanta could be a good option for the Flames in their search for a new starting goaltender. Following a slow start to the season, he has shown why.
He owns a rock solid .929 save percentage on the year. More impressively, he has posted a league-best .940SV%(!!!) in 25 games played since the turn of the calendar. For perspective, Mike Smith owns a .916SV% on the year and a .910SV% since January 1st.
If the offensively starved Flames run into Raanta tonight, it could be trouble.
4. A big shooter
Dougie Hamilton has been the league's biggest volume shooter on defense over the last 20 games but the Coyotes have a defenseman who isn't far behind. No, not Oliver Ekman-Larsson. No, not Jakob Chychrun. Kevin Connauton!
The 28-year-old journeyman has averaged 15.7 shot attempts per hour over the last 20. That's good for 7th in the NHL and slots him ahead of notables like Erik Karlsson, Dustin Byfuglien, and Roman Josi. Look for him to be trigger-happy in this one.
5. Spencer Foo
I thought he had a pretty solid NHL debut. His speed was a factor and he did generate a couple good scoring chances. He is getting every opportunity to produce while playing alongside Johnny Gaudreau on the top line. It'd be nice to see him take advantage of it.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sam Bennett - Spencer Foo
Troy Brouwer - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Micheal Ferland - Mark Jankowski - Curtis Lazar
Tanner Glass - Nick Shore - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton
Brett Kulak - Michael Stone
Matt Bartkowski - Rasmus Andersson
Jon Gillies
Arizona (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Richard Panik - Derek Stepan - Clayton Keller
Max Domi - Dylan Strome - Zac Rinaldo
Brendan Perlini - Josh Archibald - Christian Fischer
Jordan Martinook - Brad Richardson - Nick Cousins
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Luke Schenn
Jakob Chychrun - Alex Goligoski
Kevin Connauton - Trevor Murphy
Puck drop is just after 9:00 eastern and can be seen on SNW, FS-A Plus.
Note: data via NaturalStatTrick.com and Corsica.Hockey.
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Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland line has been one of league's best this season
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