The Calgary Flames play host to the Chicago Blackhawks tonight looking to pick up their third consecutive win.
This will be the third meeting between the two sides this season. The Flames have played in Chicago twice and came away with a split thanks to a strong performance by Brian Elliott in the first of two.
The Central Division leading Blackhawks are much better on home soil (8-1-2) than on the road (3-3-0) so the Flames do have something working in their favor.
The Blackhawks also probably aren't as good as their record indicates. Despite an 8-1-1 record in their last 10 games the Blackhawks have only controlled 43% of the scoring chances and 45% of the high-danger scoring chances. That's not a good recipe for success over time.
Perhaps the biggest reason for Chicago's string of wins is that they have had insane .960 goaltending at 5 v 5 in that span. Corey Crawford is a very good goaltender but he is playing over his head and bound to regress soon. The Flames are hoping that starts to happen tonight.
Here are the expected line combinations for the Flames:
Sam Bennett - Sean Monahan - Troy Brouwer Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik Linden Vey - Matt Stajan - Alex Chiasson Micheal Ferland - Freddie Hamilton - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton T.J. Brodie - Dennis Wideman Brett Kulak - Deryk Engelland
Chad Johnson
And the expected lines for the Blackhawks:
Vince Hinostroza - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Kane Artemi Panarin - Artem Anisimov - Marian Hossa Andrew Desjardins - Marcus Kruger - Richard Panik Ryan Hartman - Dennis Rasmussen - Nick Schmaltz
Duncan Keith - Brian Campbell Michal Kempny - Brent Seabrook Gustav Forsling - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Corey Crawford
A few notes:
1) The Blackhawks have a bottom-5 penalty kill in terms of shot and scoring chance suppression. If there's a team Calgary's power play should be effective against this is probably it.
2) Monahan has two points in his last nine games and six in 18 games on the year. He is being paid to produce at a high-end rate and he is not doing that. If the Flames are going to survive without Gaudreau he needs to step up and start producing.
3) The Flames also need to start getting more offense from the defense. Mark Giordano, Dougie Hamilton and T.J. Brodie should all be at least 40-point players. Right now none of them are on pace for even 30.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 9:00 eastern and can be seen on SN-West and CSN-Chicago.
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