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Here are five things to watch when the Calgary Flames take on the Buffalo Sabres:
1. Blender SZN
The Flames may be 2-0-0 under Geoff Ward but they haven’t played overly well. Scoring, and generating chances, with any consistency remains an issue.
As such, Ward has put the lines in the blender and come up with some...interesting combinations. Some I like, some I don’t, but I can’t blame the guy for shaking things up. What Bill Peters was trotting out on a nightly basis wasn’t working.
I’m interested to see how the new combinations look, of course, but also how long Ward is willing to stick with them. If the Flames don’t start fast, will he give these combinations some time to gel or quickly pull the shoot?
2. Redemption
Though the Flames managed to pull out a victory against the Sabres, I thought it was a really bad showing. They gave up 36 shots on goal, were out-chanced by 11, allowed a shorthanded goal, and there were countless head-scratching turnovers throughout. Put simply, they sucked. David Rittich stole two points but he can’t do that every night, especially while carrying such a taxing workload. The Flames need to be much better.
3. A good power play spot
Calgary has scored just two goals on the man advantage over their last eight games. Suffice to say, you’d expect more in 33+ minutes of work from a team with the kind of talent the Flames have.
The good news: Buffalo really struggles on the PK. I know that wasn’t the case a week ago but, on the year, their numbers are really bad.
They rank 28th in high-danger chances against, 29th in expected goals against and, as a result, 26th in actual goals against.
With nearly a week off to rest, practice, and sharpen up, the Flames figure to have a good chance of exposing Buffalo’s PK.
4. Buffalo’s sharpshooter
Calgary is taking on one of the game’s truly elite goal scorers and individual chance generators tonight. No, not Jack Eichel (although he is very good in those areas). Jeff Skinner.
On the year, 212 forwards have logged at least 300 minutes of ice at 5v5. Skinner ranks 5th in goals, 9th in chances, and 9th in high-danger chances per 60 minutes. He’s always getting opportunities around the net and the goals pile up as a result.
Noah Hanifin and Travis Hamonic have done a good job of limiting Grade A chances this year – they’re giving up 8.54 per 60, a number bested by only three teams – and that will need to continue in this one.
5. Getting to the danger zone
Linus Ullmark has had a very strong season, particularly at 5v5. He owns a .933 save percentage in that gamestate, slotting him 7th among 36 eligible goaltenders. One thing he has really struggled with, though, is quality shots. He has an .805 save percentage on high-danger looks, which drops him down to 30th using the same criteria. Geoff Ward has talked about wanting the Flames to shoot more and get closer to the net. If they do, they should have success against Ullmark.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Matthew Tkachuk - Elias Lindholm - Andrew Mangiapane
Sean Monahan - Mikael Backlund - Dillon Dube
Milan Lucic - Derek Ryan - Johnny Gaudreau
Tobias Rieder - Mark Jankowski - Michael Frolik
Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie
Noah Hanifin - Travis Hamonic
Oliver Kylington - Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Buffalo (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Victor Olofsson - Jack Eichel - Sam Reinhart
Jeff Skinner - Johan Larsson - Conor Sheary
Casey Mittelstadt - Marcus Johansson - Jimmy Vesey
Zemgus Girgensons - Rasmus Asplund - Evan Rodrigues
Brandon Montour - Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella - Henri Jokiharju
Colin Miller - Zach Bogosian
Linus Ullmark
Puck drop is just after 9:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on SNW and MSG-B.
Numbers via naturalstattrick.com
Recent posts:
I picked Calgary’s three stars of the month for November
Trading Johnny Gaudreau is crazy talk
From bad to worse
The Calgary Flames are getting impatient
On Mangiapane’s strong play, 5v5 offense, and Jankowski’s lack of luck
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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