The Calgary Flames will seek to go four-for-four on their post All-Star road trip tonight against a New York Rangers team playing slightly worse than their four game winning streak may imply. Lets get to it.
Calgary Flames (25-22-5, 49 pts) vs New York Rangers (33-16-3, 69 pts)
Last Ten: Calgary (6-4-0) New York (6-3-1)
Time: 5:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
TV: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet West, MSG2, ESPN+
All Four Lines Digging through the positives of the current three-game winning streak has been compelling.
Starting from the top, the line of Kuzmenko-Sharangovich-Huberdeau has dominated to the tune of a 78.9% expected goals percentage over its brief existence. Players from all four lines are producing, whether it’s Nazem Kadri’s five assists, Connor Zary’s three points, or Blake Coleman’s goal and two assists.
Also notable is Calgary’s new fourth line. Pelletier-Rooney-Duehr has outscored the opposition 2-0 over 22:40 of even strength ice time.
Bad Blood? There is a small chance that vengeance may be on the menu tonight. Fans will remember this hit from Oct. 24.
Adam Ruzicka got banged up on this hit from Jimmy Vesey. pic.twitter.com/gcI5drIqXP
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) October 25, 2023
Ruzicka, 24, saw his production grind to a near halt following his return to the lineup in early November. The 6-foot-4 pivot is yet to suit up with the Coyotes since joining the team via waiver claim on Jan 25. Probably for the best. The Slovakian needs to get that shoulder healed.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup Zary-Kadri-Pospisil Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman Huberdeau-Sharangovich-Kuzmenko Pelletier-Rooney-Duehr
Hanifin-Tanev Weegar-Andersson Kylington-Pachal
Markstrom Wolf
New York Rangers Projected Lineup Kreider-Zibanejad-Wheeler Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière Cuylle-Brodzinski-Kakko Vesey-Goodrow-Edström
Lindgren-Fox Miller-Trouba Gustafsson-Schneider
Shesterkin Quick
Game time is 5:08 p.m.
Trevor Neufeld
With two assists since Feb. 6, Jacob Markstrom has outproduced the following players over the last six days:
— TrevorNeufeld (@Trevor_Neufeld) February 12, 2024
Steve Stamkos, Brad Marchand, Mikko Rantanen, Kyle Connor, Evgeni Malkin, Artemi Panarin, Roope Hintz, Timo Meier, Mikka Zibanejad, Rasmus Andersson