Tonight the scorching hot Calgary Flames are in Arizona to take on the bottom-feeding Coyotes.
The Flames enter this game having won four straight games and own a 9-3-1 record in their last 13 games. Meanwhile the Coyotes are last in the NHL in wins with just eight on the year and three in their last 10 games.
It's no fluke, either, as they're at or near the bottom of the league in almost every major category.
At 5v5 the Coyotes control just 44.7% of the shot attempts (30th), 41.3% of the goals (28th), 42.3% of the scoring chances (30th) and 37% of the high-danger chances (30th).
They've been routinely dominated on a nightly basis regardless of opponent and there's no reason that shouldn't be the case again tonight.
The Flames are going to cool off, at least a little bit, sooner or later so they need to take advantage of the Coyotes, and accumulate all the points possible, so they can survive another rough patch should one arrive.
Here are the expected line combinations for the Flames:
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Johnny Gaudreau - Sam Bennett - Alex Chiasson Kris Versteeg - Sean Monahan - Troy Brouwer Micheal Ferland - Freddie Hamilton - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton T.J. Brodie - Dennis Wideman Jyrki Jokipakka - Deryk Engelland
Chad Johnson
And the expected lines for the Coyotes (via dailyfaceoff.com):
Tobias Rieder - Martin Hanzal - Radim Vrbata Max Domi - Christian Dvorak - Shane Doan Brendan Perlini - Jordan Martinook - Jamie McGinn Lawson Crouse - Tyler Gaudet - Ryan White
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Connor Murphy Alex Goligoski - Michael Stone Jakob Chychrun - Luke Schenn
A few notes:
1) The Coyotes are 28th in goals per game and 27th in 5v5 scoring chances per 60 minutes played. Chad Johnson, arguably the NHL's best goaltender over the last six weeks or so, is probably the last guy they want to run into right now.
2) No team allows more shot attempts or scoring chances per 60 at 5v5 than the Coyotes. The Flames should generate a lot of good looks against them, especially with high-end talent now on each of their top three lines.
3) As bad as the Coyotes are at 5v5, they might be worse on the man advantage. They are last in shot attempts, shots and scoring chances per 60 with a man up. I wouldn't advise taking penalties, but even the Flames shouldn't be in too much trouble down a man.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 9:00 eastern and can be seen on Sportsnet-Flames and FS-Arizona.
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