A short time ago making the playoffs didn't seem entirely far fetched for the Calgary Flames.
That's far from the case now as, following a 1-8-1 stretch, they sit just one point ahead of the Edmonton Oilers for last in the West and are only four points out of last place in the NHL.
Entering this game the Buffalo Sabres are just two points ahead of the Flames so they are playing meaningful hockey; just not for the reason most were hoping for heading into the season.
Obviously you want the players to try and, well, win but if Bob Hartley and co. want to experiment with lines, continue to play Deryk Engelland more than Dougie Hamilton, etc. he can go right ahead. At this point losses help more than they hurt.
LINEUPS Gaudreau - Bennett - Frolik Ferland - Monahan - Colborne Bouma - Backlund - Hathaway Bollig - Stajan - Jooris
Giordano - Brodie Engelland - Hamilton Jokipakka - Nakladal
Hiller
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Kane - Eichel - Reinhart Foligno - Larsson - Gionta Catenacci - C. O'Reilly - Girgensons Deslauriers - Legwand - Moulson
Gorges - Ristolainen McCabe - Bogosian Colaiacovo - Pysyk
Lehner
Notes
1) I'd like to see Jokipakka and Nakladel play a little more than the 12-13 minutes the 3rd pairing has been getting for weeks now.
The Flames aren't going to make the playoffs, obviously, so they'd be better served truly finding out what they have in these two guys instead of running Mark Giordano and T.J. Brodie into the ground by playing them 25+ minutes a night in meaningless games.
2) The Flames have a bit of a stealth tank going on right now. They've had the NHL's worst goaltending all season and down the stretch they're going with Joni Ortio, who has an .895SV% in the NHL, Jonas Hiller, who owns a .885SV% on the season, and Niklas Backstrom, who posted a sub .900SV% in 2013-14, 2014-15 and hasn't played a game in 2015-16.
The game is at 7:00 and can be seen on Sportsnet 360.
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