Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
The Calgary Flames are playing their worst hockey of the young season. They have lost four of their last five games and been out scored by a ridiculous 20-7 margin in that span.
Things aren't about to get any easier, either, with the New York Rangers coming to town this evening.
The Rangers are perhaps the NHL's scariest team right now. They are 10-4-0, have scored 58 goals(!!!) and own an incredible plus-24 goal differential (+1.75 goals per game).
For comparison sake the Flames are tied for 29th in wins with five, have scored 38 goals, and own a negative-17 goal differential (-1.13 goals per game).
New York's defense can be shaky at times but they come at you with four skilled, speedy lines. In a league where offense is hard to come by the Rangers have acquired enough talent to give them capable scorers on all four lines, and the results speak for themselves.
The Rangers are going to give the Flames all they can handle.
Here are the expected line combinations for the Flames:
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Alex Chiasson
Hunter Shinkaruk - Sam Bennett - Troy Brouwer
Micheal Ferland - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Linden Vey - Matt Stajan - Freddie Hamilton
Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie
Jyrki Jokipakka - Dougie Hamilton
Brett Kulak - Deryk Engelland
Brian Elliott
And the expected lines for the Rangers:
Jimmy Vesey - Derek Stepan - Rick Nash
Chris Kreider - Mika Zibanejad - Mats Zuccarello
Michael Grabner - Kevin Hayes - J.T. Miller
Pavel Buchnevich - Brandon Pirri - Jesper Fast
Ryan McDonagh - Dan Girardi
Marc Staal - Nick Holden
Brady Skjei - Kevin Klein
Henrik Lundqvist
A few notes:
1) The Flames need to keep their feet moving at all times. The Rangers attack with a steady dose of speed and if you get caught flat footed they will either a) blow right by or; b) force you to take a penalty. The Flames need to be on their toes.
2) The Rangers' defense core is mediocre and there aren't a lot of capable puck movers back there. If the Flames are quick to close on the forecheck they should be able to pressure the puck carriers into some bad decisions and disrupt the breakouts. That's key because once the Rangers get going up ice with a full head of steam there isn't really a way to stop it.
3) The Flames don't have anywhere close to as much scoring depth as the Rangers have, especially with a couple top-9 wingers (Matthew Tkachuk/Kris Versteeg) out with injuries. They need their stars to carry the load offensively.
Tonight's game is scheduled for 10:00 eastern and can be seen on CBC, SN1 and MSG+.
Recent posts:
Losing ways continue as Flames fall to banged up Stars
On Monahan, Grossmann and Kulak
The Flames' top players need to be better
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Pacific Division bold predictions
Pacific Division breakout players
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»