The Calgary Flames' road trip continues tonight as they're in Carolina for a date with the Hurricanes.
The Hurricanes enter this game playing pretty good hockey as they own a 5-3-2 record in their last 10 games, and have been the league's 8th best possession team in that span hovering 53%. As you'd expect that has translated into scoring chances as they rank 11th since January 3rd.
The Flames, on the other hand, don't rank nearly as well, however, with the return of Michael Frolik and the emergence of Sam Bennett they're a much better team than they were but a couple weeks ago.
They are finally getting some scoring from players not named Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. They've lacked that for much of the year and it's something they'll need a lot more of down the stretch if they're going to seriously contend for a playoff spot.
As disappointing as the season has been to date the Flames sit just six points behind Vancouver for a playoff spot and they have four games in hand.
We'll see if they can close the gap today.
LINEUPS Gaudreau - Monahan - Jones Bennett - Backlund - Frolik Colborne - Granlund - Hudler Bollig - Stajan - Bouma
Giordano - Brodie Russell - Hamilton Smid - Wideman
Ramo
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Versteeg - E. Staal - Lindholm Nordstrom - J. Staal - Nestrasil Skinner - Rask - Di Giuseppe Gerbe - McClemment - Nash
Hainsey - Faulk Liles - Slavin Hanifin - Jordan
Lack
NOTES 1) Versteeg - Staal - Lindholm may not seem like a scary good line but they certainly are. In ~260 minutes together they have been absolutely dominant generating 60% of the shot attempts, 64% of the scoring chances and 66% of the goals at full-strength. The Flames will have their hands full trying to stop that trio.
2) Bob Hartley doesn't have last change but he should be looking to get one of his scoring lines against the Skinner - Rask - Di Giuseppe unit whenever possible. They're a talented offensive trio but their play on the defensive side of the puck leaves a lot to be desired. That shows in the numbers, too, as the 'Canes get just 45% of the shot attempts and 41% of the scoring chances with that trio on the ice at 5 v 5.
3) The Flames and Hurricanes are 30th and 29th in 5 v 5 save percentage this season. Don't expect a goaltending duel in this one.
The game is at 6:00 eastern and can be seen on Sportsnet and Fox-Sports Carolina.
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