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Here are five things to watch when the Calgary Flames take on the Arizona Coyotes:
1. Pedal to the metal
The Coyotes don’t play fast. In terms of Corsi pace (shot attempts for + against per 60), they rank in the bottom half of the league. They’re bottom-6 when it comes to Expected Goals pace. They don’t generate or give up many high-quality opportunities. They’re very structured and measured in their approach. Calgary is quite the opposite – they play fast – and I think they should be looking to ramp up the pace another notch in this one; force the Coyotes out of their comfort zone. While the offense is better than in year’s past, I doubt the Coyotes have any interest in a track meet against a team featuring stars like Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm, Matthew Tkachuk and Mark Giordano. Especially not when playing their third game in four nights.
2. Brick walls
Both Darcy Kuemper and Antti Raanta have played fantastic hockey this season. As such, the Coyotes rank 2nd in team save percentage – behind only Tuukka Rask, Jaroslav Halak, and the Boston Bruins. The Coyotes don’t give up a ton of quality chances and, clearly, their netminders have consistently been there to clean up any mess. They’ll want to play in a bit of a shell tonight which, again, is why I think it is imperative for the Flames to really push the pace and open the game up. If they’re only getting a handful of good looks throughout the night, it’ll be tough to beat Raanta more than twice. That puts the end result in question.
3. Matchup games
Arizona is going with a balanced approach to their forward group, making it less than obvious who teams should be sticking their top defensive players on. Personally, I think Giordano and co. should be used primarily against Clayton Keller’s line. Keller and Nick Schmaltz are the two best offensive playmakers on the roster and Conor Garland can really shoot the puck. Though the sample size is small, their underlying numbers are also much better than Phil Kessel’s unit.
4. The one and only
We’re a month into the season. The Flames have played 14 games. And Mark Jankowski still does not have a single point. Zero (0). Nilch. Nadda. In over 150 minutes of ice, zero points. Of the 296 forwards who have played at least 150 this year, only five remain pointless and Jankowski is perhaps the headliner on the list. What’s even more remarkable is Jankowski has not been on the ice for a single Flames goal. He is the *only* player – forward or defense – in the entire NHL who meets that criteria and not seen a single puck go in for his team. I think he has played better of late so perhaps this magical run could come to an end tonight.
5. A lengthy dry spell
Johnny Gaudreau has not scored a goal since October 12th against the Vegas Golden Knights. That’s 12 straight games without one. If the last handful of games are any indication, I think the streak will soon reach its end. Over the last six contests alone, Gaudreau has amassed 32 shot attempts and 24 scoring chances. He’s been robbed, hit posts, etc. The key thing, though, is he’s getting the opportunities. We know what kind of talent he is, and we know it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through so long as the chances are there. They are.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Elias Lindholm
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Andrew Mangiapane
Alan Quine - Derek Ryan - Sam Bennett
Tobias Rieder - Mark Jankowski - Michael Frolik
Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie
Noah Hanifin - Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington - Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Arizona (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Barrott Hayton - Christian Dvorak - Phil Kessel
Clayton Keller - Nick Schmaltz - Conor Garland
Michael Grabner - Derek Stepan - Vinnie Hinostroza
Lawson Crouse - Carl Soderberg - Christian Fischer
Oliver Ekman-Larsson - Jason Demers
Jakob Chychrun - Alex Goligoski
Aaron Ness - Jordan Oesterle
Antti Raanta
Puck drop is just after 9:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on SNW, FS-A, and FS-A Plus.
Numbers via naturalstattrick.com
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