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Tonight will be another chance for the two struggling Albertan teams to take to the ice and get a moral victory for their fans, as the Flames play host to the Oilers.
Both teams currently sitting in the NHL’s basement should be excited for tonight’s game as each franchise tries to improve their respective records while the fans look to reignite the once ever so popular BOA. On a positive note, both the Flames and Oilers have won their most recent games however only one of the two will extend their streak to two games.
Looking over Calgary’s record in comparison to Edmonton, they have a lot going for them at the moment. With several very close games over the past month and finding points in three of their last five games played, the Flames have been playing well as a group and have arguably not been outplayed for a good part of this season.
“We’re disappointed because we feel our record should be a lot better than it is,… said Giordano. “(Monday) we found a way — that’s what we have to do. Hopefully, on the other side of Christmas, we do that.…
The Oilers, however, continue to struggle to find any sort of consistency as they have dropped games by a few too many goals more often than head coach Dallas Eakins would like to see. That said, both teams continue to struggle in terms of goals allowed per game, as the Oilers sit dead last at 30th and the Flames 28th. Similarly placed, the two teams sit close in the standings in terms of goals scored where the Flames rank 21st in comparison to Edmonton at 17th.
Looking at these two groups of stats, it should only follow that we assume the teams are very close in terms of their inability to stop goals. The only thing to note here, however, is that while the Flames are struggling for the season in that regard, they have steadily improved over the last month only allowing 2.4 GA/A in their past ten games, compared to Edmonton’s 3.2 GA/A.
As a result of some shaky defending from both teams, tonight could be a high scoring game and this notion is furthered by the fact that Flames defenseman Kris Russell remains out of the lineup. In terms of the Oilers, the only injury to report is Marc Arcobello who is out with injured ribs.
In terms of goaltenders, the Oilers are expected to start Devan Dubnyk who currently holds a 5-1-1 record against the Flames, while Calgary is expected to start Reto Berra who has posted a 1.97 GAA in both meetings against the Oilers this year.
Mikael Backlund appears to be getting more chances to start on the first line in Stajan’s absence as the centerman was able to register 17 shots on net over his last three games played. His play has started to improve over the past month or so and is being rewarded with added ice time as a direct result.
Below are the expected line ups for tonight’s bout.
Cammalleri – Backlund - Byron Galiardi - Stajan - Stempniak Jones – Colborne - Hudler Bouma – Monahan - McGrattan
Giordano - Smid Butler - Brodie Smith - O’Brien
Berra
Thanks for reading!