The Calgary Flames are in Anaheim tonight looking to conclude their four-game road trip on a positive note.
There certainly weren't many positives in the first three games as the Flames picked up just two points and were outscored by a 12-4 margin.
Playing in Chicago before going through the California teams is about as tough as it gets but the Flames have, for the most part, looked terrible and provided little resistance against them. They are all playoff caliber teams, obviously, but getting dominated is not a good look for a Flames team that has playoff aspirations and, if they get there, will have to go through said teams in order to make any kind of noise.
The good news for Calgary is, as bad as they've looked at times, they can redeem themselves with a win today and pick up a respectable four points during a four-game stretch that is as tough as any they will play al season.
Anaheim has been playing pretty well but Hampus Lindholm has yet to return to the lineup while the likes of Ryan Getzlaf and Nick Ritchie are banged up. This is a winnable game and one the Flames desperately need to keep the train on track.
Here are the Flames' expected line combinations for tonight:
Johnny Gaudreau - Sam Bennett - Troy Brouwer Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Micheal Ferland - Sean Monahan - Alex Chiasson Hunter Shinkaruk - Matt Stajan - Freddie Hamilton
Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie Brett Kulak - Deryk Engelland Nicklas Grossman - Dougie Hamilton
Chad Johnson
And the expected lines for the Ducks:
Michael Sgarbossa - Rickard Rakell - Corey Perry Andrew Cogliano - Ryan Kesler - Jakob Silfverberg Joseph Cramarossa - Antoine Vermette - Ondrej Kase Ryan Garbutt - Chris Wagner - Jared Boll
Cam Fowler - Josh Manson Clayton Stoner - Sami Vatanen Shea Theodore - Kevin Bieksa
John Gibson
A few notes:
1) I'm not going to put all the Flames' struggles on Monahan but he is one guy who absolutely needs to be better. He has four points in 13 games and has recorded well under two shots per game. He's not exactly getting great linemates to work with right now but one would think a $6.37 million player can create something, anything, by himself.
2) The Ducks control ~44% of the shot attempts with Theodore and Bieksa on the ice. They have been the team's weakest pairing and it's not really close. Get Gaudreau on the ice against them whenever possible.
3) One area Anaheim has struggled thus far is on the penalty kill. They have allowed more scoring chances per 60 than all but five teams. Perhaps the Flames can finally get that power play going.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 9:30 eastern and can be seen on Sportsnet One and Prime.
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