To those that party, happy Halloween. The Calgary Flames play the Philadelphia Flyers as they conclude a Western Canada road trip tonight in what should be two tired teams looking to see how far their winning streaks will last. Both teams have faced a heavy workload and have had only one night off. Tonight will be a gut check for the Flames and Flyers in what may be a preview of how both teams will play down the stretch.
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk Coleman-Backlund-Pitlick Lucic-Monahan-Lewis Mangiapane-Dube-Ritchie
Hanifin-Andersson Kylington-Tanev Zadorov-Gudbranson
Markstrom
Terrifying potential Fresh acquisition Cam Atkinson is on a tear in his last four games with five goals over that time. Zadorov back in and Kylington is playing top four minutes. It’s unclear what caused Noah Hanifin to miss last game against the Penguins, but it’s fair to say half of the first pairing is probably not playing at 100% tonight.
Hart attack The Flames lost their first two games of the season largely due to Mike Smith and John Gibson standing on their heads. With a save percentage of .915 and a goals against average of 2.73; Carter Hart has the potential to do the same. The Flames have scored four or more goals in each of their last four games. Hart has the potential to put an end to that streak.
Sutter’s haunting trends Anyone over the age of 30 remembers Darryl Sutter’s ability to get more out of his teams on the road. To the point where Darryl has had players staying in a hotel before home games. History has told us that the Flames have a good chance at playing a lower quality of hockey at home when Darryl is bench boss. Tonight will be an interesting game in that regard.
Matt Tkachuk needs to feast The Flyers rank third in the NHL in times played short handed. The Flyers haven’t played the Flames enough to get the book on playing against Matthew Tkachuk and his innate ability to draw penalties. Good teams have players heat up and take over at varying points during the season. Tonight could be Matt’s night to play his game. It’s Halloween after all. Speaking of.
RELEASE THE BEAST Nikita Zadorov has sat five straight games. Best known for throwing thunderous hits, Zadorov will be looking to make an impact in the best way he knows. The 6’6… 235 lb Russian is not going to take being sat laying down. Zadorov is an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his life after this season and that is likely very present in his mind.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the game,
Trevor Neufeld