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Flames-Golden Knights Game Day — Taking on the Best in the West |
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Amid one of the more astoundingly consistent seasons in terms of dropping easy games — tonight might actually be a pretty fun one to watch.
The 42-20-6 Golden Knights are atop the standings in the Western Conference. Unlike last season where they essentially tailspinned out of a playoff spot due to injuries, they’re getting hot at just the right time.
Seven wins in their eight games since the beginning of March. Four or more goals for in six of those games. Their powerplay is finally clicking at a 25% rate over that time. The Golden Knights are the hottest team in the NHL over the last 16 days.
The Calgary Flames, on the other hand, are staying in perfect consistency with the rest of their season. 3-4-3 in their last ten. Losses to bottom five teams like Arizona and Anaheim sprinkled in there as well as wins against some of the League’s better teams in Dallas and Minnesota.
It seems Calgary was designed for games like tonight. A high-tempo, high-skill Vegas group that can push the outside noise out of the collective Flames player’s heads. They’ll likely go blow-for-blow with the best team in the West just enough to remind Flames fans that there is a great team there just waiting to play its way out of its own head.
It’s that, or they’ll get kicked in the teeth in the first twenty minutes and then fail to put together substantial offence over the final 40. They’re just that consistent this season.
And what a season it’s been.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Big shakeup on forward. Jakob Pelletier, who had a goal and an assist the last time these two teams went head to head, draws out of the lineup along with Walker Duehr.
Lineup courtesy of Pat Steinberg. @Fan960Steinberg
Mangiapane-Lindholm-Toffoli
Huberdeau-Backlund-Coleman
Lucic-Kadri-Lewis
Ritchie-Ruzicka-Dube
Weegar-Andersson
Hanifin-Tanev
Zadorov-Stecher
Markstrom
Vladar
Vegas Golden Knights Projected Lineup
Courtesy of dailyfaceoff.com.
Barbashev – Eichel – Marchessault
Smith – Karlsson – Dorofeyev
Howden – Stephenson – Amadio
Cotter – Blueger – Kessel
Martinez – Pietrangelo
McNabb – Theodore
Hague – Whitecloud
Quick
Patera
Sutter’s Old Horse
Since being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 2, 2023, Jonathan Quick is yet to lose.
4-0-0, a 2.22 goals against average, and a .930 save percentage.
Surely it would have made waves in the dressing room, but imagine if the Flames had made that trade. The cost was a replacement goalie in Micheal Hutchinson, who you could insert Oscar Dansk in as an equivalent, and a 2025 7th-round pick. Likely needing to be a 6th to be a better pick than Vegas’.
Given that questionable goaltending has been at the fore of the Flames’ issues this season, a trade like that might have saved the season.
Game time is 8:00 pm MST. Catch the broadcast on Sportsnet West in Canada and AT&T SportsNet in the States.
Trevor Neufeld
@Trevor_Neufeld
Stats via nhl.com and naturalstattrick.com.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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