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Flames Game Day: Goal Oriented (Mark II)

 


Pengrowth Saddledome

7 PM MT

Opposition: On the Forecheck

TV: Sportsnet West

The Flames start another 3 in 4 night skein with a home date versus the Predators this evening, and unsurprisingly, the team's sputtering goal output is the topic du jour. There is, as you might suspect, plenty of talk from the team about staying the course, as you might suspect. As I mentioned last night, short of overhauling the roster, it's the only rational choice, so you'd expect nothing else in terms of comment from the players.


Star-divide


The Iginla-Jokinen duo, as been the case as of late, did everything but score against the Pens. The captain appears to be in the sort of form that has to result in another streak and as has been mentioned in previous Predly previews, he might not have a straight P v P match-up to contend with. That should portend good things on the scoresheet.

And yes, I know that's a lot of Ps in the last sentence or two. Deal.

The Langkow line has resident the only Flame with any sort of recent goal scoring luck, as Rene Bourque is in continued good form, but Langkow himself and Nigel Dawes are in deep holes at the moment. Again, it's finishing that is in short supply, not overall play. 

Craig Conroy returned to the line-up, although I did notice that when the Flames were in search of an equalizer, Boyd moved up one slot. That's not always the worst way to get Boyd involved, since it allows the Flames to have a more responsible player in the top nine most of the night. If they're in front, status quo. If behind, the player with more burst in his game at the moment (Boyd) gets more opportunities. Until Boyd proves he's a slam-dunk choice over Conroy in all situations, that's not the worst way to go about business. 

The D has settled, I'd say. That Crosby goal was a blemish on a night of very good work by Giordano and Bouwmeester, but they were likely the right choice to do the heavy lifting. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sutter begin to split the responsibility given to his top two pairs on occasion. There are nights where Regehr and Phaneuf will, and likely should, get the top lines, no questions asked. San Jose this coming Monday, with Thornton, would be that sort of opponent. Against a team like the Hawks, that may not be the best way to go, simply from a style POV. 


Miikka Kiprusoff would go again tonight, one would think, with a B2B looming Sunday and Monday. McE in Anaheim, maybe? 


The Preds have won three of four since the Flames dispatched them 10 days ago, including victories in Vancouver and Edmonton. Presuming they didn't pull anything in their outing at the Garrison, they should be well-rested. Patric Hornqvist is having a very nice scoring year for himself, smacking around some softer comp to the tune of 18 goals thus far. Hey, if you're getting easier match-ups, you'd better score against them, and he is, so mission accomplished. The Preds, as we often discuss about them, approach match-ups in that sort of fashion more rigorously than most teams, which means another night of likely hoping Legwand and Ward saw off Iginla and crew while looking to win the game elsewhere.

The Predators still can't kill a penalty, and the better shot totals for the Flames' PP the last couple of outings do suggest a team that might, just maybe, score another goal or two with an extra man. Being honest though, predicting another night of stone mitts seems like the better bet, but one can dream, can't one?


Game time is 7 MT on Sportsnet West. Maybe there will be a few "Marry me, Shea" types around tonight for our entertainment. 


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Kent I’m a little confused on what you meant by Boyd, probably due to my lqck of literacy. Is Sutter using him instead of Conroy on the 3rd line when they need an offensive spark? Jeeze, I just don’t see the point behind playing Boyd with Prust and McGratton usually. But I guess there aren’t any other viable options…

by Rod Blogojevich on Jan 15, 2010 2:18 PM PST via mobile reply actions  

That’s actually my piece, Rod, and yes, that’s what I’m getting at. They use him when they need more offence. As I said, until Boyd looks like the better option in all scenarios, I wouldn’t be surprised if this continues. Brent Sutter is a safety-first sort of coach. I don’t really think you’ll get full value out of using Boyd with those sorts of players either, but with the roster as it is, it allows Sutter to have someone competent in the middle of the fourth line.

by Robert Cleave on Jan 15, 2010 2:37 PM PST up reply actions  

Haha sorry about that Robert, like I said, I can’t read.

by Rod Blogojevich on Jan 15, 2010 2:55 PM PST via mobile up reply actions  

Slump ends tonight, 6-2 final. Lanks, Dawes (x2), Nystrom, Iggy, Phaneuf.

Alas, for Reggie the scoring slump continues, but he’ll get his Sunday in Anaheim.

by maimster on Jan 15, 2010 2:57 PM PST reply actions  

but one can dream, can’t one?

by maimster on Jan 15, 2010 2:58 PM PST up reply actions  

in regards to Hornqvist

The comment about him playing against lesser competition is somewhat inaccurate. Hornqvist has been on the top scoring line for 4+ (IIRC) games, and so has played against the top defensive units of other teams.

That said, here’s how we’ll look unless Trotz throws a curveball:
Sullivan-O’Reilly-Hornqvist
Ward-Legwand-Erat
Jones-Goc-Dumont
Thuresson-Spaling-Belak

Weber/Suter
Hamhuis/Klein
Franson/Boullion

You can expect to see Legwand against the Iginla line. Thats what works and there hasn’t been any reason to vary it.

Here’s to a good game. We totally botched the last final game of our Western Canada road trip, so I’m not overly optimistic this evening. A point would be sweet.

On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
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by Chris Burton on Jan 15, 2010 3:40 PM PST reply actions  

I think Bob means Hornqvist isn’t seeing the tough match-ups in terms of forwards.

Also – how is O’Reilly doing? He was well thought of coming out of the AHL I believe.

by Kent Wilson on Jan 15, 2010 3:46 PM PST up reply actions  

I was in the middle of typing just that, Kent. QComp against a good D pair is fine, but it’s one thing to face say, Lidstrom and Rafalski. It’s another thing to play against those guys with Datsyuk fronting them, as opposed to say, Darren Helm.

by Robert Cleave on Jan 15, 2010 3:56 PM PST up reply actions  

my bad

I’m following now.

On O’Reilly, he obviously has the tools, I think that part of his production problems have come from being recalled and sent down often, and part of it from his linemates. He’s gotten stuck on some bottom-6 checking lines (IIRC) and that hurt him, too. Since he’s been with Sully and Hornqvist, though, due to Arnott’s injury, he’s looked much better.

On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
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by Chris Burton on Jan 15, 2010 4:11 PM PST up reply actions  

Uhh…the Flames just tweeted new lines:

Lundmark – Conroy – Iginla
Dawes – Langkow – Bourque
Glencross – Jokinen – Moss
Nystrom – Boyd – McGrattan

Not sure how elevating Conroy is supposed to spur scoring…

by Kent Wilson on Jan 15, 2010 3:51 PM PST reply actions  

Those are a little weird.

On a separate note, even though they are similar, isn’t it clear that Prust is better than McGrattan?

by maimster on Jan 15, 2010 3:59 PM PST up reply actions  

I think it is, but who knows when it comes to coaches and their enforcers. They seem to be like pet Pit Bulls for most of the bench bosses in the league.

On the lines, if Jarome continues to play the way he has and faces the lesser lights, then the change shouldn’t be a big deal. I assume in this configuration that Langkow/Conroy will get all the d-zone draws, freeing up Jokinen and glencross to get a bulk of the o-zone draws. That’s how it would make sense to me anyways.

by Kent Wilson on Jan 15, 2010 4:04 PM PST up reply actions  

Re: enforcers. It was just noted by TSN that Capitals don’t have an enforcer on their squad. Some tougher guys (like Erskine), but no goon. They’re in the middle of humiliating the goo-replete Leafs 4-0 in the second period. They are also 3rd in the EC with 62 points.

by Kent Wilson on Jan 15, 2010 5:18 PM PST up reply actions  

Oy.

I don’t necessarily mind Joker’s linemates, per se, but if this is Sutter’s way of showing that the captain is out of his slump and can carry anyone, uh, I could do with out the proof. Maybe it’s a reaction to the way Trotz does things, in that if Iggy’s going to get Legwand anyway, the Flames are hoping to spread out the offence enough that the next two lines should get a better match-up. That’s all I’ve got. Suggestions?

by Robert Cleave on Jan 15, 2010 4:03 PM PST up reply actions  

that'd be my guess

the Goc and O’Reilly lines are going to have trouble with Jokinen and Langkow, I’d say.

On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.
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by Chris Burton on Jan 15, 2010 4:09 PM PST up reply actions  

We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score. We will score.

…right?

by Resolute on Jan 15, 2010 4:43 PM PST reply actions  

The Flames are one of two teams to not be shut out so far this year if I’m not mistaken, so we probably will score! More than one though?

Given my history of saying things like that, the Flames will get shut out tonight. Kent, you can ban me from the blog if the Flames get shut out tonight.

-Colin

by Colin S on Jan 15, 2010 5:21 PM PST up reply actions  

Looks like the Flames got shut out tonight Colin…nice knowing ya.

by Icedragon on Jan 15, 2010 8:47 PM PST up reply actions  

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