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Despite the fact that the Calgary Flames have now dropped four of their last five games played, they have extended their recent one goal differential to eight out of their last ten games played.
Even if you consider that of those ten games played which the Flames have only won four, two of their losses were in OT or Shootouts. Moreover, the only game that the Flames have lost by more than one goal since December was a 2-0 loss against the Boston Bruins – not bad for a rebuilding roster who has felt their fair share of key injuries.
As discussed in previous blogs, I have always held that a team like the Flames needs to do whatever they can to remain competitive while amidst a rebuild. Although there could be different interpretations of this, what Calgary is providing at the moment, in this writer’s opinion, is exactly what is needed for its fan base and organization – hard work and character.
The last thing which the majority of Flames fans would like to see this year is the Flames making a few moves in order to try and move up in the standings, thus resulting in likely missing the playoff and not having a very high draft selection; lose-lose. Conversely, the way the team is playing right now is providing much needed development for the team’s younger players and is also keeping around the notion that there will never be excuses to not compete every night as a part of the Flames.
While working together as a group, a few members of the Flames have been rewarded on personal levels in terms of player development such as defenseman Kris Russell, forward Jiri Hudler, rookie Sean Monahan, and newly appointed captain Mark Giordano. All these players have had strong starts to their season, despite a few injuries here and there which is a positive thing to see.
Typically speaking, when a team is moving through its first year or two of a rebuild we expect to see player performances begin to regress as a result of the understanding that their team isn’t competing for a playoff appearance. This has not been the case so far for this group, and with Bob Hartley as their coach in addition to Brian Burke having a little extra power at the moment, I don’t expect that this teams mentality will be changing anytime soon.
Moving into tonight’s game against the St Louis Blues, Calgary will be playing at home for the first time since December 14th as they have endured a five game road trip. That said, both teams should be well rested as neither have played more than two games in the past four days.
The Blues should be quite the challenge for the Flames tonight as they currently hold a 10-4-2 road record and are sitting on a two game winning streak. In terms of the Flames current records, while neither of Calgary’s home or road record are very strong, the Flames’ home record has been slightly better and should provide them with an opportunity for a point or two.
On a positive note for the Flames, Blues leading scorer Alex Steen is expected to be out tonight after suffering an upper body injury after their game against the Oilers Saturday night. Steen has had a career start to his 2013-14 NHL campaign registering 38pts in 35gp. In fact, when Steen scores the Blues hold a 17-0-2 record, but when he doesn't their record is 7-7-2…clearly a player they will miss.
While on topic, the Flames will also be without two key players tonight as Kris Russell is expected to miss the game in addition to Curtis Glencross, both suffering from lower body injuries after their game against the Penguins.
"They're two great leaders, but at the same time, there's nothing we can do about injuries," coach Bob Hartley told the team's official website. "Unfortunately, it's part of our game and it's going to give opportunities to two more players to step in and get good chunks of ice time and get the job done. So, it's all about character right now."
With respect to the lineup tonight, it appears that the only big change will be placing Sean Monahan on the fourth line while giving Mikael Backlund an opportunity on the 2nd. Monahan has been a little cold of late not being able to register a single point in his last three games played, though it’s somewhat difficult when most games have been low scoring to begin with.
Paul Byron will also be given a chance on the second line after scoring a goal on Saturday night against the Pens.
Here are the lines expected for tonight. Reto Berra will get the start tonight.
Galiardi – Stajan - Stempniak Cammalleri – Backlund - Byron Jones – Colborne - Hudler Bouma – Monahan - McGrattan
Butler - Brodie Giordano - Smith Breen - O’Brien
Berra
Thanks for reading!