The Chicago Blackhawks have been finding ways to win of late against the lower half of the league. Seattle, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Ottawa are a few teams they’ve managed to play tight-to-the-belt hockey against and steal a win.
The league’s better teams? Not so much. They are yet to beat a team this season that is 14th or higher in the standings. Vegas has Calgary as the -240 favourite to win tonight’s showdown between the Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks.
Of course this means the Flames are going to lose.
Why should a team that is 1st in the NHL in goals against per game (1.89) prevail over a team that is ranked 30th in goals per game? (2.17 GPG)
Why should a team that sits at 9th in goals per game (3.32) and 1st in goal differential (+27) lose to a team that has posted the worst possession stats in the entire league in the 21-22 season to date? (44.7% 5-on-5 Corsi, 41.8 xGF%)
Alright, the more I type this out; the more I want to delete it all and start up a piece about how the Darryl Sutter led Flames are comparable to the Roman Empire at it’s zenith, but I won’t.
You know why?
We’ve seen a full NHL Calgary Flames lineup be beaten by the Florida Panthers prospects and AHL core in preseason. We saw the ‘04 run where the Flames brought a completely outmatched roster and still found a way, and we’ve seen countless bad teams grind it out against teams that should dominate their opposition. Just when you feel confident about your predictions, the sport bites you in the ass and reminds you that any team at the highest level can steal a win.
Calgary will probably win. If anyone watched the Blackhawks play the Oilers on Saturday; they saw one of the most dominant beat downs in recent memory. At one point the Oilers held possession in the Blackhawks’ end for over five minutes without a whistle. Now the Blackhawks are playing their third game in four days to end their road trip.
What could go wrong?
Lineup courtesy of Pat Steinberg @Fan960Steinberg
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk
Coleman-Backlund-Mangiapane
Dube-Monahan-Pitlick
Lucic-Richardson-Lewis
Hanifin-Andersson
Kylington-Tanev
Zadorov-Gudbranson
Markstrom
Valimaki back out
Despite posting an assist and zero goals against, Valimaki is back out of the lineup. Can’t imagine he’s too impressed, but Darryl has his reasons. Jusso played a solid game, but he is certainly capable of more. You have to wonder what his stats would look like if he had the privilege of playing on Tanev’s pairing for an extended stretch.
Injuries are a certainty and he’ll eventually get his shot.
A well earned rest
After tonight’s game, the Flames won’t play again until Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets. That gives time to relax a bit and nurse whatever nagging injuries are affecting them. Per the research of Darren Haynes: the Flames have been the busiest team in the league so far this season with 20 games in 39 nights.
I can’t speak enough about the quality of Haynes’ work. His Twitter is @DarrenWHaynes and he always has a good take ready. Give him a follow!
Playing that frequently seems to be good for the Flames. In the past few years, the bye week has wreaked havoc on the Flames’ momentum. Even when Mike Smith needed the time off to heal his compounding groin issues.
The Flames get a lighter schedule for about a week before things get busier in December. They play three times between now and the morning of December 2. Let’s hope they can maintain their pace.
Enjoy the game,
Trevor Neufeld
Follow me on Twitter @Trevor_Neufeld
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»