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The Calgary Flames will look to extend their winning ways after a dominating win against the Anaheim Ducks just a few days ago.
With the strong work ethic and determination of this young team, there haven’t been many teams who have given them a tough time this year.
Tonight should be an interesting game as the team works to expand upon their strong play and the success which they have found this year. As we all assumed, the Flames were expected to be a bottom tier, boring team to watch given the players remaining on the roster.
However, the Flames continue to impress and teams are finding it difficult to pick up two points against them. What's more, is that while they offer such a challenge, have been developing their young players at the NHL level who have been showing potential, they have not really moved out of a strong drafting position. Almost a perfect scenario for the Calgary organization when you think about it...no?
That said, tonight will be a difficult challenge for Calgary as the Dallas Stars have outscored the Flames 12-4 in just two games this year, and will look to sweep the team tonight with another win.
Moreover, it won’t be Dallas’ record against the Flames that Calgary needs to worry about, rather it will be their current three game winning streak and 7-2-1 record over their past ten games played. With players such as Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn having very successful campaigns, the Flames will have their hands full in terms of trying to deal with their offense.
And while scoring hasn’t necessarily been a problem for Calgary(2.35 goals per game), they will need to get a head start on Dallas to shut down their 2.85 goals per game average.
In terms of how these teams rate, comparatively, it will be the difference in specialty teams that could ultimately be the deciding factor tonight. Given that the Stars have put away 38 goals on the power play in comparison to Calgary’s 30, they will want to try and stay out of the sin bin. Furthermore, the Stars also hold a stronger penalty kill at 16.1% compared to 14.4% for the Flames.
As mentioned, the game plan for Calgary should be to try and defuse any offense which Seguin and Benn might try and create, as Benn currently sits with 11 points in his last seven games and Seguin a very respectable nine points in his last three games played.
To counter these players, Calgary will need to rely on guys like Mark Giordano who has put up three points in his last two games played, Mike Cammalleri who has two in as many games, and Mikael Backlund who has registered four points in his last two games.
Backlund had a strong game against the Ducks as he registered two points and was 61% on the draw for the night. With over 19 minutes of play, the centreman is showing promising strides in his personal development of late.
In addition to the above mentioned players, Calgary will really need added offense from players such as Sean Monahan who has not registered a point in his last three games, and also Curtis Glencross who has just returned from injury. Provided that the Flames can get off to a strong start and try and protect a lead, their hard work could be enough to hold the Stars back from sweeping them for the year.
In terms of the roster, there are no expected changes since last game, with injuries still present for Karri Ramo, Dennis Wideman, Jiri Hudler, and David Jones. In addition to these players, Matt Stajan will remain out of the lineup for personal reasons and Markus Granlund has just recently joined the infirmary with an upper body injury.
Here is your expected line up for tonight.
Glencross - Monahan - Colborne Cammalleri - Backlund -Bouma Hanowski - Galiardi - Byron Westgarth - Knight - McGrattan
Brodie -Giordano Russell -Butler Smid - Wotherspoon
MacDonald
Thanks for reading!