Last night, the Calgary Flames picked up arguably their most impressive win of the season as they fought through some questionable calls, and erased a 2-0 deficit, en route to a victory over one of the league's better teams in Nashville.
The Flames controlled the majority of the game at 5v5 and certainly had the more dangerous looks, so a win was well deserved.
They'll be looking to bottle up that performance and pick up where they left off tonight when they take on another strong opponent in the St. Louis Blues.
The Blues are off to an impressive 6-2-1 start and, in one of their only losses, outshot their opponent (Vegas) by 30 on the road, so they're going to be a very tough out.
This will be another good measuring stick.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Michael Ferland Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Sam Bennett - Mark Jankowski - Curtis Lazar Kris Versteeg - Matt Stajan - Troy Brouwer
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton T.J. Brodie - Travis Hamonic Brett Kulak - Michael Stone
Eddie Lack
Nashville (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Vladimir Tarasenko Vladimir Sobotka - Paul Stastny - Alex Steen Magnus Paajarvi - Oskar Sundqvist - Beau Bennett Scottie Upshall - Kyle Brodziak - Chris Thorburn
Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo Carl Gunnarsson - Colton Parayko Vince Dunn - Robert Bortuzzo
Five things to watch:
1) The Blues have loaded up their top line with the team's three leaders in 5v5 scoring chances. The Flames are going to have their hands full trying to contain them, especially without controlling the matchups.
2) Discipline will be key again. The Flames are a tired team and the Blues are rested so if the former gets into early penalty trouble and falls behind the 8-ball it'll be tough to come back.
3) Bennett's first game on the wing was a smashing success as he looked very dangerous/confident and the Flames out-chanced the Preds 10-2 with him on the ice at 5v5. The Flames really need the secondary offense so it'd be huge for them if he can become a consistent threat on the 3rd line.
4) Ferland is another guy who has gotten off to a slow start but really impressed last night. He showed good hands around the net finishing on the game-tying goal and recorded a game-high five scoring chances at 5v5. The Flames need that kind of performance on a consistent basis.
5) The Flames' defensive play has been improving the last few games but they still rank 25th in shot suppression at 5v5. Eddie Lack will likely see his fair share of rubber, especially with Calgary in the latter half of a back-to-back, so he'll need to be on his game for the Flames to have a chance.
Puck drop is just after 8:00ET/6:00MT and can be seen on SN360 and FS-MW.
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