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The Calgary Flames were not at their best Thursday night vs Carolina but, ultimately, it was a lack of discipline that turned out to be the difference in the game.
Tonight they'll look to get back on track -- and rectify their penalty-taking issues -- when they play host to the Minnesota Wild.
The Wild will likely be one of the conference's better teams again this season, but they certainly aren't that right now.
They're playing without several of their best players in Nino Niederreiter, Charlie Coyle, and Zach Parise -- and it shows.
The Wild have just one win in five games, sit 31st in Corsi For/60, and 27th in Scoring Chances For/60, meaning they aren't generating much offense (or any) at 5v5.
If the Flames stay disciplined -- and don't make Minnesota's life easier in terms of spoonfeeding opportunities to create offense -- they should be able to get back in the win column.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Jaromir Jagr
Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik
Kris Versteeg - Sam Bennett - Micheal Ferland
Tanner Glass - Matt Stajan - Troy Brouwer
Mark Giordano - Dougie Hamilton
T.J. Brodie - Travis Hamonic
Matt Bartkowski - Michael Stone
Mike Smith/Eddie Lack
Minnesota (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Mikael Granlund - Mikko Koivu - Jason Zucker
Marcus Foligno - Eric Staal - Chris Stewart
Tyler Ennis - Matt Cullen - Luke Kunin
Zack Mitchell - Joel Eriksson Ek - Daniel Winnik
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin - Matt Dumba
Kyle Quincey - Mike Reilly
Devan Dubnyk
Five things to watch:
1) The Brodin - Dumba pairing has really struggled in the early going as the Wild are controlling less than 40%(!) of the shot attempts with them on the ice. Glen Gulutzan should get the Gaudreau line out against them every chance he gets.
2) The Wild rank 31st in 5v5 shot attempts for/60 while the Flames rank 28th in shot attempts against/60. If there was ever a time for their defense to put forth a stingy performance and play as expected, this is it.
3) Bennett's start to the season has been extremely disappointing. He hasn't looked good and his underlying numbers are horrendous. If he doesn't step up his game -- and fast -- the Flames will need to make changes (like recalling Mark Jankowski and shifting Bennett to the wing).
4) After Thursday's game, Gulutzan hinted some of the guys who have gotten into penalty trouble would see their minutes cut. Let's see if he follows through.
5) Jagr has only played four games and he's already tied for 6th on the roster in 5v5 scoring chances. He's generating them at a pretty good clip so it's only a matter of time before he's rewarded with a goal.
Puck drop is just after 10:00ET/8:00MT and can be seen on CBC and FS-N.
Recent posts:
Five takeaways from Calgary vs Carolina
On Jagr, Stajan, and Jankowski
On Tkachuk's strong play, getting Lack some work, and Glass
Predicting the Pacific Division standings
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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