The Calgary Flames entered Sunday night's game looking to put together consecutive wins for the first time all season.
Despite scoring first they were unable to do so as they allowed four straight en route to a disappointing loss to the New York Rangers.
The Flames, who entered the season with higher expectations than we've seen in a long time, have now lost six of their eight games thus far and have lost by two or more in five of those games.
They continue to struggle immensely at full-strength as they rank 25th in possession and are tied with Columbus for 30th with a minus-15 goal differential at evens.
They have shown signs of progress at times but have been unable to put together a consistent effort for anything close to 60 minutes and that has haunted them.
Tonight they will have another opportunity to get back on track against a very solid New York Islanders team.
It won't be easy but at this point it's almost a necessity. The Flames are running out of racetrack.
LINEUPS
Gaudreau - Monahan - Hudler Colborne - Backlund - Frolik Bennett - Grant - Jooris Bollig - Stajan - Jones
Giordano - Wideman Russell - Engelland Smid - Hamilton
Ortio
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Lee - Tavares - Strome Bailey - Nielsen - Okposo Kulemin - Grabovski - Nelson Martin - Cizikas - Clutterbuck
Leddy - Boychuk de Haan - Hamonic Hickey - Zidlicky
Halak
KEYS TO THE GAME 1) Rushing the puck. The Flames have constantly gone to their absurdly long stretch passes and it has gotten them into more trouble than it has helped them avoid. Teams are sitting on it waiting to pounce in the neutral zone and it has worked. The Flames have the luxury of a mobile blue line with several guys who can rush the puck up ice. I'd like to see more of that.
2) Goaltending. Bob Hartley is going to give Joni Ortio a shot after another underwhelming start from Jonas Hiller. The Flames have an .875 team save percentage (29th) at 5 vs 5 and desperately need a quality outing. They won't have a chance against the Islanders without one.
3) Limit 91's chances. John Tavares is on an absolute tear right now as he has recorded 10 points during a six-game point streak. It's nearly impossible to shut him down entirely but the Flames need to ensure they take away his time and space in a hurry. If he has any time to do anything he's going to make a play. The Flames need to make someone else beat them.
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