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Just the Facts:
- The Time: 9pm EST
- The Place: SADDLEDOME, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Place to Watch: NESN, Most Provincial Sportsnets, Sportsnet 1, ESPN+
- Place to Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub
- Opposing SBNation Blog: Matchsticks and Gasoline
Know Your Enemy:
- Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk are your leading point getters for the Flames, both have 50 in 61/60 games respectively.
- The leading goalscorer for the Flames is the man who lines up across from Gaudreau: Elias Lindholm. He has 27 goals in 61 games, and leads the Flames man-advantage with 8 power play goals and 17 points on the power play.
- If you thought the Oilers had some rough injuries, the Flames are beat to hell and back: They’re without Mark Giordano, Travis Hamonic, Derek Ryan, and Juuso Valimaki.
- Milan Lucic is here. He has 17 points in 59 games.
- The Flames have decided that Dave Rittich is their man in net, who currently sports a .908 SV% and 22 wins in 43 starts.
- There is some dude named Andrew Mangiapane on this roster and that’s just delightful.
Game Preview:
If you thought that the Oilers might’ve been motivated to show they can keep ahead of the pack (and to their credit, they did), you haven’t seen the kind of year the Calgary Flames are having and what might be motivating them; They’re desperate.
Even after getting rid of noted slimeball Bill Peters, the Flames have had a rough go of their season: 5-5-0 in their last 10, No Mark Giordano for however long it’ll take, including two games that had them give up 8 goals by the final buzzer, and sharing ROW, points, and standings placing in the wild card with Arizona...and being severely undermanned besides. Plenty of their stars are going through fits and starts with their performance, and their defense is uh...well...
It’s certainly there. As is their goaltending.
That said, the offense that’s gotten them this far still works, and their wins over the past 10 games have been fairly impressive score-fests, and they have just as good a chance as any to take control of the Pacific Division. If you thought the Oiler’s game was gonna be something good?
Just wait till tonight.