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The Calgary Flames will look to extend their current 3 game winning streak on the road tonight against the Los Angeles Kings who have been struggling of late.
Only a few weeks ago many fans were beginning to wonder whether or not the Flames could withstand their play and continue to challenge for a playoff position as the team started to slide. Since, however, the team has seemingly returned to form as they currently sport a 7-3-0 record over their past ten games played.
The Kings, on the other hand are sitting with a 3-3-4 record over their last ten played and have dropped both games played against the Flames so far this year…so tonight isn’t exactly looking to be in their favour.
Two of the brighter stars for the Flames have been, and continue to be rookies Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau. While Monahan impressed the entire fanbase last year with his play, he hasn’t exactly shown any signs of slowing down despite the fact that a lot of the media attention has been put on Gaudreau.
Monahan currently sits with 28 points in 45 games played which puts him on pace for 50 points in 82 games (15 more than last year). These are certainly signs of solid development as Monahan doesn’t appear to be out of place and has certainly displayed an elite ability to control the play throughout certain times of the game.
And while Sean has been playing great, he continues to be overshadowed by Gaudreau’s 33 points which puts him 3rd in team scoring and on pace for 61 points by year end.
What’s important to note about this Calgary team, however, isn’t the success of their rookies and their ability to score, but rather the strength of their defense and goaltending. Mark Giordano and TJ Brodie continue to be one of, if not the strongest defensive pairings on the ice as they currently combine for 72 points and are 2nd and 3rd in team scoring, respectively.
NHL teams dream to find pairings that complement each other this well together on both ends of the ice, and the Flames should have some promising years of defensive hockey if they can stay healthy. What’s more, is that with Karri Ramo going down, there was some doubt in how things would play out with Joni Ortio and let me just say – he’s been phenomenal!
Ortio has played three straight games to backstop the Flames and has won all three, posting a 1.33 GAA and .953 SV%. That right there is impressive, especially given that he faced some tough competition and was peppered with 36 shots in his shutout against the Canucks. The 23 year old is certainly making a case to stay when Ramo returns, and I could see a trade involving Karri Ramo OR Hiller depending on how he continues to play.
"He's playing so well, he's giving us some big saves, he has that swagger about him right now," coach Bob Hartley told the team's website.
Things are moving in the right direction for this fanbase and fans couldn’t be happier. They are sitting in a playoff spot on January 19th and are playing well. Their stats are seemingly improving (save for their specialty teams), but with a young team it’s rather expected.
Tonight should be a good test for this group against a bigger and tougher Kings squad. If they can rely on their speed and smart outlet passes, I could see a 3-1 win tonight on the road. If the Kings play the body hard and guys like Gaudreau are shut down, it will certainly be a tight game as LA has been struggling to score, but could sneak one/two past Ortio for the win.
Thanks for reading!