Update: Tanev in. Ritchie out. Lines updated.
The Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers will commence second round action tonight for game four of their best of seven series in round two of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Edmonton currently leads the series two to one.
The stakes are high. A loss would put the Calgary Flames on the brink of elimination. They would have to win three straight to proceed to the Western Conference Final.
For the Oilers, tonight is an opportunity to take firm control of the series.
Both teams have been in this situation in round one. After winning games two and three against LA, the Oilers dropped two straight to face elimination in games five and six.
In opposite fashion, Calgary won game one against Dallas then proceeded to lose their next two. With the prospect of going down 3-1 on the line in game four in Dallas, the Flames delivered a command performance winning 4-1 in front of a raucous Stars fanbase.
So, if you’re wallowing in self-doubt or just generally feel miserable about the prospect of the Flames going down 3-1; just breath. It’s not in stone yet.
Adjusting the Approach The Flames shifted towards tentative hockey in the first two periods of game three. Committing only one forechecker to the Oilers breakout provided enough space and time for even a weak blue line to get their passes on target with better timing. As a result, we saw a higher amount of odd man rushes and ultimately a few out-of-character goals against during the first and second period.
Don’t expect the same approach in game four. Two forecheckers, a greater tendency to dump and chase, and more scoring plays originating from down low will be on the menu tonight.
Goalie Issues? Three sub-.900 games for starter Jacob Markstrom isn’t exactly conducive to a successful series.
Game one: .786 Game two: .875 Game three: .882
The 32 year old native of Gà¤vle, Sweden appears to have some issues pushing off his right leg with accuracy.
Darryl Sutter felt a shakeup was necessary after 40 minutes on Sunday. Daniel Vladar posted a 1.00 save percentage on seven shots against.
Odds are good that Markstrom starts game four, but is it the best decision for the team if Jacob isn’t at 100%? Tough call, but veteran coaches tend to revert to their number one despite injury status.
Flames Lines Flames lineup via Hailey Salvian of the Athletic.
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman Dube-Jarnkrok-Toffoli Lucic-Lewis
Hanifin-Andersson Tanev-Kylington Zadorov-Gudbranson Stone
Markstrom
Oilers Lines Projected Oilers lines courtesy of dailyfaceoff via naturalstattrick.
Draisaitl-McDavid-Yamamoto Kane-McLeod-Hyman Archibald-RNH-Ryan Kassian-Puljujarvi
Nurse-Ceci Keith-Bouchard Kulak-Barrie Russell
Smith Koskinen
Game time is 7:30pm mst.
Trevor Neufeld
Statistics via naturalstattrick.com, nhl.com, dobberhockey.com, and moneypuck.com.
@Trevor_Neufeld