Flames vs Canadiens Gamethread

Buckle up! A couple of (somewhat undeserving) unbeaten teams go head-to-head this evening. While both clubs have had similar results, they’ve actually gotten there via different paths. As pointed out by Robert and Lawrence in the pre-game post below, the Habs have won both their games despite being grossly outshot (like the Flames!). However, it’s been the Canadiens money players carrying the day in terms of possession and offense, whereas Calgary’s depth has excelled while the big guns remained silent.

Tonight, the Iginla-Jokinen tendem will have a good opportunity to break-out, despite the fact they’ll likely be facing a trio that has excelled thus far (Gionta-Gomez-Cammalleri). The reason is the lack of one Andrei Markov, by far the best defender on the club. Paul Mara is also out, meaning Montreal’s first pairing will look something like Hamrlik-Spacek or Hamrlik-Gill. If Iginla and Jokinen can’t do some damage at home against what is essentially a second pairing duo on the back-end, they’re worse off than I thought.

Other stuff to watch for:

– Reggie's been rough so far. Will he continue to struggle this evening?

– Jokinen and Iginla have two of the worst corsi measures on the club, yet, somehow, Moss is 5th overall in terms of relative corsi. How does he do that?

– Speaking of which, Nigel Dawes is 2nd. Behind only….Eric Nystrom!

– I watched a bit of the Leafs/Canadiens game and Cammalleri was a bright spot for the Habs. His line, despite being rather tiny, caused havoc.

Let's get at it. Go Flames!

by Kent Wilson