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The Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes will battle for two points later tonight as either team looks to improve upon their most recent record.
Ranked similarly in their last ten games played as the Flames, Carolina currently sits at 5-3-2 with a recent OT loss which pushed them to a four game losing streak.
Having found some success in their games of late, Calgary appears to have found their work ethic which has been missing from games beyond the first week or so of the NHL season.
Missing several key players, bouncing back and forth between goalies, and not having a ton of veteran or leadership experience on the team likely had a lot to do with their inability to find and stick to a system which would yield success.
That said, when working together as a team and sticking to their game plan while also keeping things simple, the Flames have been quite successful. They have been challenged with much stronger opposition in their conference and despite being amidst a rebuild, are showing certain “winning… qualities needed for a successful team.
Currently on a road trip, the Canes will look to bounce back from a close game against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. The two teams have not played each other since December 2011 and as such, there shouldn’t be too much rivalry type hockey expected tonight.
The Hurricanes have several players who will be dangerous against the Flames tonight such as Jeff Skinner who was named the NHL Star of the week this past Monday. With that in mind, Calgary will hope to do their best to contain the Canes and it will be Karri Ramo starting in net for the Flames and be put to the test. Calgary has been able to keep their most recent games very close as all of their last three where within one goal. In fact, during their last five games played, they have only allowed an average of 1.6 goals against – not bad for two inexperienced goalies.
We have two goalies that can give us good minutes," coach Bob Hartley told the team's official web site. "On top of playing those guys to allow us to win, I'm trying to find out if the two of them can carry the load as No. 1 goalies in the NHL or if one of them is a better No. 1 and the best way to know this is to put them in key situations."
Still without Monahan, Glencross, and Wideman, the Flames may have TJ Galiardi back in the lineup tonight who has been out since November 20th with back spasms. There are no changes expected to the lineup or game plan tonight, however enforcer Lane MacDermid was assigned to the AHL Heat.
The Flames will need to find the back of the net tonight if they are to find any success. Hudler who is currently leading the team in points(28) has been quite dominant in that regard as the veteran winger is on pace for his best NHL season to date.
Outside of Hudler, Calgary will need guys like Cammalleri, Stajan, Russell, and Backlund to step up and put up points. While players like Baertschi and Colborne continue to struggle at times, both have been showing strides in development and have been slowly winning over their coaches confidence.
Here are the expected line combinations for tonight.
Cammalleri – Stajan - Stempniak Baertschi – Colborne - Hudler Galiardi – Backlund - Jones Jones – Byron - McGrattan
Russell - Brodie Giordano - Smid Butler - O’Brien
Ramo
Thanks for reading!