The Calgary Flames put forth a dud of a performance against Montreal in the last game prior to the holiday break.
While they only lost by a goal, the score wasn't reflective of how poorly they played in their 23-shot showing.
They'll be looking to rebound and pick up a much-needed win when they take on a San Jose Sharks team that sits just three points ahead of them for the 3rd and final spot in the Pacific.
The Sharks own a respectable 5-3-2 record over their last 10 games but they haven't been playing overly well without Logan Couture and the expectation is they'll be without him again tonight.
That's good news for the Flames as the Couture/Tomas Hertl/anyone else on the roster trio was doing a nice job of limiting opposing top lines offensively *and* generating offense of their own.
The Sharks are still a pretty good team but Couture's absence certainly takes some wind out of their sails. The Flames need to take advantage of that.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Michael Ferland Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Sam Bennett - Mark Jankowski - Garnet Hathaway Troy Brouwer - Matt Stajan - Jaromir Jagr
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton T.J. Brodie - Travis Hamonic Brett Kulak - Michael Stone
David Rittich
San Jose (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Jannik Hansen - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski Malker Karlsson - Tomas Hertl - Kevin Labanc Timo Meier - Chris Tierney - Joonas Donskoi Marcus Sorensen - Joel Ward - Mikkel Boedker
Brenden Dillon - Brent Burns Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun Joakim Ryan - Dylan DeMelo
Martin Jones
What to watch:
1) Burns started the season extremely slowly – at least in terms of counting totals – as he tallied just seven points in his first 19 games. Since then, he's found his usual form and has piled up 17 points in 15 games and generated a *ton* of shots in that span. The Flames have to make sure they stick to him like glue and watch out for him jumping into the play to create another layer of offense.
2) Jones has been an absolute trainwreck this month. He's allowed four or more goals in six of his seven starts and owns an .885 save percentage during that span. He's clearly not at his best so the Flames need to test him every chance they get – they can't have another 23-shot dud.
3) The 3M line has been caving teams in on a nightly basis but it hasn't really resulted in much offense. At 5v5, the Flames are scoring 1.57 goals per 60 minutes that line plays. For perspective, they were on for 2.84 goals/60 a season ago. I feel like they're due for some bounces and an offensive outburst.
4) Crazy but true: after Bennett's recent surge, he is 3rd on the Flames in 5v5 scoring with 14 points and only Justin Braun (15) has more on the Sharks. I think he and his linemates could be able to beat up on a pretty mediocre bottom-6.
5) Rittich is 3-0-0 with a .937 save percentage in three career starts. All three were on the road, too, so playing in San Jose shouldn't be too big of a stage for him.
Puck drop is just after 10:30 eastern and can be seen on SNW and NBCSCA.