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The Pittsburgh Penguins will put their 6 game winning streak on the line against the visiting Calgary Flames. The Flames are right about where you would predict them to be, second to last in their division with only a 13-16-6 record.
Gone are familiar faces Jarome Iginla, Mikka Kipprusoff, and Jay Bouwmeester. In is new President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke. Burke has recently fired Flames GM Jay Feaster in what came as no surprise. Feaster has not done well in the salary cap era managing teams as he was the one who oversaw the breakup o the Stanley Cup champion Lightning and never built a Flames team worth of the playoffs.
Moving forward the Flames are in a much better spot with Burke leading the way than what they had.
It won’t be an overnight fix but they should slowly start to head in the right direction.
In Penguins news the team announced today that it has come to an agreement with goaltender Jeff Zatkoff on a 2 years 1.2M extension. Apparently the play of Zatkoff has impressed the Penguins brass enough that he will be considered for the backup job past this season. Considering the contract is only for 600k per season it is also feasible that the Penguins still go out and acquire a more veteran netminder.
Zatkoff's play has pleasantly surprised me lately but I still don't know if I like the Penguins heading into the playoffs without a more proven backup. Fleury is having an outstanding season but I would still like some insurance for any playoff related stumbles.
Here is what Zatkoff had to say about the contract extension:
Zatkoff: "Great organization and I'm excited to be here the next couple of years" #Pens
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 21, 2013The signing could also provide some indirect insight into the Tomas Vokoun injury situation. Perhaps Vokoun is a lot closer to retirement than he is to coming back to the NHL.
If you remember at the time of Vokoun's injury it was a minimum 3 month process for the blood thinners work. We are approaching the end of that 3 month time frame. This is what Vokoun had to say about a month ago:
"In a month I’ll see the doctor & see what he thinks I should do. Then it’s up to me to weigh pros & cons and make a decision" -Vokoun
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 1, 2013Line Combos
Projected lineup for the Penguins:
Kunitz-Crosby-Dupuis Zolnierczyk-Jokinen-Neal Conner-Sutter-Vitale Adams-Sill-Kobasew
Niskanen-Maatta Bortuzzo-Dumoulin Despres-Samuelsson
Engelland-Scuderi
Fleury starting, Glass not playing, Malkin probably out until after iChristmas break, per Bylsma. #Penguins
— Shelly Anderson (@pgshelly) December 21, 2013Projected lineup for Flames:
Glencross-Stajan-Stempniak Byron-Monahan-Hudler Cammalleri-Backlund-Jones Bouma-Colborne-McGrattan
Smid-Giordano Butler-O’Brien Russell-Brodie
Injuries
Dennis Wideman is out 6-8 weeks with a broken hand Brooks Orpik has been skating with teammates and took part in some contact drills. Recently he has not suffered from any concussion related symptoms.
Rob Scuderi continues to skate with the 4th defense pairing in practice. His return to the lineup is not far off. The initial reports have him coming back on the 27th of December.
Power Play
The Penguins have the #1 power play in the league at 26.8%. Their 1st place lead has been reduced though. Washington is now creeping up the ranks and is at 2nd place with 26.3%.
The Penguins are tied for 12th in the NHL with 123 power play opportunities.
The Flames have the 26th ranked power play at 14.2%. They are 24th in the NHL with 113 power play opportunities.
Penalty Kill
The Penguins are now 3rd overall in the NHL on the PK with 87.5%.
The Flames are tied for 16th overall with 81.7%.
The Penguins are 6th best in the league with only being shorthanded 112 times
The Flames are tied for 8th overall with 115 times shorthanded.
Fenclose%
The Penguins are 5th overall at 54.1%
The Flames are 26th overall at 46.6%
Even Strength Save %
The Penguins are 14th overall with an EVSV% of .923%. Marc Andre Fleury is sitting at a solid .926%.
The Flames are dead last in the NHL in EVSV%. They have a brutal .906%. It’s tough to win games when you have a loaded team with goaltending like that let along a mediocre team like the Flames.
When you also combine their poor rate of possession it makes for a hill too tough to climb on most nights
Trends
Flames are 4-1 in their last 5 Saturday games
Penguins are 6-0 in their last 6 vs. Pacific
Flames are 1-6 in the last 7 meetings in Pittsburgh
Flames are 0-5 in the last 5 meetings
Stats courtesy of covers.com
Thanks for reading!
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