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Calgary Flames vs New York Rangers game preview

The last time the Flames played the Rangers, they won 4-3, and Karri Ramo was outstanding. The Flames need another win bad, so let's hope for something similar tonight.

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Before their recent road trip, the Calgary Flames were 9-5-0 on the road. Pretty good, right? Well they’re unfortunately riding a five game losing streak, including four straight losses away from home. They now post a simple .500 road record, so it’s probably nice to return home, where they’re 8-4-2. Hopefully the losing stops tonight with the Flames back in their own barn, this time to host the New York Rangers for a quick two-game homestand.

Things have kinda collapsed for the Flames as of late. When once they were scoring goals at will, now, they’re harder to come by. A regression in shooting percentage was to be expected; after all, it’s rather difficult to score at such an insane clip over the course of 82 games. The nice thing, though, is the Flames have yet to be shutout this season! (Knock on wood, knock on wood…) Jiri Hudler put the Flames on the board in their recent loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, off an excellent drive by TJ Brodie and beautiful passing courtesy of Johnny Gaudreau. Sadly, it was one mistake that gave the Blackhawks the edge in goals, as the Flames fell to them, 2-1. | Recap | Stats recap | Boxscore | Hey, it was a pretty nice goal:

The Rangers? Well, their most recent casualty is Dallas Eakins, whom the Edmonton Oilers fired after one loss too many. That loss came at the Rangers’ sticks, a 2-0 shutout courtesy of Henrik Lundqvist’s 16 saves, as well as Dan Girardi’s game-winning goal and Carl Hagelin’s empty netter to seal the deal. The Rangers are in the midst of a three-game winning streak, as prior to handling our northern brethren, they also thrashed the Vancouver Canucks 5-1, and pulled out a 4-3 overtime victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Their most recent loss was on Dec. 6, 2014, a 3-2 falling to the Detroit Red Wings.

Head on over to Blueshirt Banter to read more about tonight's opposition.

Game time: 7:00 p.m. MT

Channel: SNF

All-time record: The Flames are 55-38-15-5 against the Rangers, with a +70 goal differential. Wow. Let's hope the Calgary/Atlanta all-time franchise just makes it even more impressive.

Common threads: Lee Stempniak! The Flames traded Stempniak to the Penguins for a third round pick. Then they traded that third round pick to the Blackhawks for Brandon Bollig. Trading Stempniak for Bollig sounds bizarre, but it’s basically a thing that happened. Anyway, the Pens didn’t retain Stempniak’s services, and he ended up getting a chance out in New York, signing a one-year, $900,000 deal. Over 25 games for the Rangers so far, he’s scored five goals and 11 points.

Also, the Rangers ended up winning the Kevin Hayes sweepstakes, which the Flames were presumably in on. Both teams have Boston College boys: in addition to Hayes, the Rangers have Chris Kreider. The Flames, of course, have Johnny Gaudreau.

Approaching milestones: Jiri Hudler has 198 assists, so he could totally reach 200 tonight.

Current records and leaders

Calgary Flames New York Rangers
17-13-2: 36 points 14-10-4: 32 points
Pacific Division: 5th Metropolitan Division: 4th
Western Conference: 9th Eastern Conference: 8th
Time on ice
Defence: TJ Brodie (24:55 per game)
Forward: Sean Monahan (19:31 per game)
Defence: Dan Girardi (24:24 per game)
Forward: Derek Stepan (18:31 per game)
Points
Goals: Jiri Hudler (12)
Assists: Mark Giordano (22)
Points: Mark Giordano (30)
Goals: Rick Nash (18)
Assists: Derick Brassard (16)
Points: Rick Nash (31)
Shots
Shots on goal: Sean Monahan (83)
Shooting percentage: Jiri Hudler (21.4%)
Shots on goal: Rick Nash (96)
Shooting percentage: Kevin Klein (20.0%)
Faceoff Leaders
Sean Monahan (50.1%, 693 taken) Dominic Moore (54.4%, 366 taken)
Grit
Penalty minutes: Brandon Bollig (40)
Hits: Lance Bouma (96)
Blocked shots: Kris Russell (93)
Penalty minutes: Chris Kreider (50)
Hits: Chris Kreider (73)
Blocked shots: Dan Girardi (65)
Corsi/Fenwick (minimum 1/2 team’s games played)
Corsi for%: Mark Giordano (48.2%, 32 GP)
TJ Brodie (48.2%, 32 GP)
Fenwick for%: Mark Giordnao (49.4%, 32 GP)
Johnny Gaudreau (49.4%, 31 GP)
Corsi for%: Matt Hunwick (52.2%, 23 GP)
Lee Stempniak (51.9%, 25 GP)
Fenwick for%: Carl Hagelin (52.2%, 28 GP)
Lee Stempniak (51.8%, 25 GP)

Possible starting lineups

Calgary Flames
Left Wing Center Right Wing
Joe Colborne Sean Monahan David Jones
Johnny Gaudreau Josh Jooris Jiri Hudler
Curtis Glencross Markus Granlund Paul Byron
Mason Raymond Matt Stajan Lance Bouma
Left Defense Right Defense
Mark Giordano TJ Brodie
Kris Russell Dennis Wideman
Rafa Diaz Deryk Engelland
Goalies
Karri Ramo
Jonas Hiller

New York Rangers
Left Wing Center Right Wing
Rick Nash J.T. Miller Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider Derek Stepan Martin St. Louis
Carl Hagelin Kevin Hayes Lee Stempniak
Tanner Glass Dominic Moore Jesper Fast
Left Defense Right Defense
Ryan McDonagh Dan Girardi
Marc Staal Dan Boyle
John Moore Kevin Klein
Goalies
Henrik Lundqvist
Cameron Talbot

Well, looks like Brandon Bollig and Brian McGrattan remain on the outs on offence, as it should be. Meanwhile, Corey Potter is purely a circumstantial recall, and doesn’t seem like he’s about to start getting any ice time in lieu of Ladislav’s Smid injury, meaning Rafa Diaz gets to keep on playing. Of course, these things could change as the day goes on, but as of this morning, that’s what the lineup looks to be.

by Ari Yanover