After picking up a much needed win over Philadelphia on Thursday night the Calgary Flames will be looking for the same result against another Metro Division squad in the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Picking up another two points will certainly be a tall order as the Penguins enter tonight's game the hottest team in hockey having won six in a row and nine of 10.
When you think of the Penguins you think of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and a high-powered offense but it has actually been Marc-Andre Fleury leading the way while the offense finds its footing.
While the Penguins are tied for 1st in goals against per game their defense has been anything but sound. The Penguins allow 28.9 scoring chances per game, which ranks them 6th from last.
The Flames will get their fair share of chances tonight. Converting on them against a red hot Fleury will be the true challenge.
LINEUPS
Colborne - Monahan - Hudler Gaudreau - Bennett - Frolik Raymond - Backlund - Jones Bollig - Stajan - Jooris
Giordano - Wideman Russell - Brodie Engelland - Hamilton
Ramo
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Dupuis - Crosby - Hornqvist Perron - Malkin - Kessel Kunitz - Bonino - Bennett Plotnikov - Cullen - Fehr
Cole - Letang Maatta - Scuderi Dumoulin - Lovejoy
Fleury
THREE KEYS 1) Scoring first. The Penguins have been surprisingly mediocre offensively this season yet they have won a ton of games large part due to the play of Marc-Andre Fleury. Falling behind early against a hot goaltender is usually trouble; especially when there is a ton of star power in front of him due to breakout offensively.
2) A quality start from Ramo. The Penguins are allowing just 1.77 goals per game on the year so the Flames probably won't be lighting the lamp with regularity. Ramo will have to be good.
3) No easy entries. The Penguins have as much star power as anyone and they can pick teams apart if they get set up in the offensive zone. The key is to challenge them at the line and prevent them from doing so.
Recent posts: A quality start!