At 7:00 pm tonight the 17-11-6 Calgary Flames will attempt to cold-start both their offensive and defensive game against the NHL’s hottest offence in the 26-7-6 Florida Panthers.
The Flames enter tonight’s match on a four game losing streak. Over that time they have been outscored an astounding 20-7.
On the other side of the ice will be a team that has outscored the opposition 25-8 in their last four outings. They have 53 goals in their last eight and have won eight of their last nine games.
It’s fair to say this game would be a turning point if they can manage to get their arms around the Panthers offence. The team went blow for blow with the Panthers on January 4th and were rewarded with a 6-2 loss. The Flames allowed five unanswered goals after the 10:01 mark of the first period.
This time they have Sam Bennett in the lineup. He was suspended during last match for a hit to the head of Habs forward Cedric Paquette in a game he scored two goals in. The power center from Holland Landing, Ontario has four goals in his last two games and six in his last four.
Some fans will remember Sam showing a rare glimpse of his offensive potential outside of the post season against the Panthers. On January 16th, 2016 the 4th overall pick of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft put up four goals on the lowly Florida Panthers on route to a 6-0 victory.
More easily forgotten is that he had one goal in the 19 games leading up to that performance.
Fans can debate whether the organization lost out by trading him, but it’s worth mentioning that he got a look on Calgary’s top unit for an extended period in his final season with the Flames. Also worth pointing out is that he still had to play right wing for that period and center Sean Monahan wasn’t playing to his potential either.
All in all, it’s best that Sam found success somewhere and the Flames can at least say they got a couple 2nd round picks from finding him a place to succeed. The guy fought and bled for the Flames. The Trouba fight, the Nurse fight— on a strictly human side of things, it’s good to see him find success. Especially out of the division and conference.
Lines in practice yesterday. As always, these will be updated at warmups.
Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk
Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman
Lucic-Monahan-Dube
Lewis-Richardson-Ritchie
Hanifin-Andersson
Kylington-Tanev
Zadorov-Gudbranson
Markstrom
Vladar
Playing safe
While it was exciting to watch the Flames and Panthers play some river hockey earlier in the month, it’s safe to say that style didn’t warrant the ideal results. Flames players have mentioned in interviews this week that they need to start doing the little things better and that they need to bring more emotion. The fanbase has heard talk like that many times to mostly disappointing results. In a season full of stepping up to challenges, this will easily be their greatest yet. The Flames need to play to their new identity. Score early, don’t relent on puck pressure, and keep the Panthers on their heels with their underrated forechecking game.
Something is rotten in the state of Markstrom
You may be surprised to read that Jacob Markstrom is still leafing the league in shutouts. (5) That may be because his last was on November 18th.
Of more concern is his recent play. Take a look at his last five starts.
Backup Daniel Vladar had to start in back-to-back outings against the Lightning and Hurricanes. It was released that Markstrom wasn’t at 100%.
What percent is he at? Other than .865 over his last five games.
While it’s good to put trust in your goalie, why roll him out if he’s not healthy enough to provide starter quality play between the pipes? It’s a long season. Vladar and Wolf would be a perfectly good tandem while Markstrom gets on top of his recovery. The Flames need him able to steal games. Putting in an injured starter against the league’s best offence isn’t doing anyone any favours.
Just enjoy
While the table seems set for the Flames to get lit up, pun intended, there is still a chance they play the way we all know they can. As pointed out prior to the Senators/Flames game: anything can happen in the game of hockey at the professional level. The Coyotes have brought the West leading Avalanche and the East juggernaut Leafs to a shootout, winning one of them. The Senators swept amp Alberta road trip. Sutter has shown many times in the past that he can get a less talented squad to all pull together and beat the league’s best teams.
Anything can happen.
Trevor Neufeld
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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