The score didn't necessarily reflect how the game was played but, after being on the wrong end of a 5-1 game, the Calgary Flames are looking to bounce back tonight in San Jose.
The Flames certainly have their work cut out for them against the Sharks. They won the Western Conference last year and figure to have a good chance to do so again this season.
Their only notable loss, if you'll call it that, was Roman Polak and they replaced him with the underrated David Schlemko in the off-season. They also signed winger Mikkel Boedker to add more scoring depth to the team.
To date the Sharks own a respectable 6-4-0 record but probably deserve better. At 5 v 5, where most of every game is played, the Sharks are controlling ~54.5% of the shots and ~55% of the scoring chances. They rank top-3 in each category.
The Sharks are loaded from top to bottom and they are a perfect 4-0-0 on home soil this season. They're going to give the Flames all they can handle.
Here are the Flames' expected line combinations:
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Alex Chiasson Kris Versteeg - Sam Bennett - Troy Brouwer Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Micheal Ferland - Matt Stajan - Lance Bouma
Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie Jyrki Jokipakka - Dougie Hamilton Brett Kulak - Deryk Engelland
Chad Johnson
And the expected lines for the Sharks:
Mikkel Boedker - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski Joonas Donskoi - Logan Couture - Joel Ward Patrick Marleau - Tomas Hertl - Melker Karlsson Michael Haley - Chris Tierney - Tommy Wingels
Paul Martin - Brent Burns Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Justin Braun Brendan Dillon - David Schlemko
Martin Jones
A few notes:
1) The Sharks are one of the best teams at creating shots, and chances, at full-strength while the Flames allow/generate a fair bit themselves. There should be a lot of chances in this game.
2) Monahan has two points in his last seven games, one in his last four and his shot rates are down this season. He is now being paid as a high-end player. It's time to play like one.
3) Despite regularly playing against opposing team's best players the Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik unit has been the Flames' best defensive line by a wide margin. The Flames don't have last change but they need to try and get that line out against San Jose's top unit whenever possible.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 10:30 eastern and can be seen on Sportsnet 360 and CSN-CA.
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