Flames @ Oilers Gamethread – Throwing Punches Underwater, Sink With Me

Two frustrated, pissed off, rivals meet tonight. One will find much needed relief from a losing streak while the other will continue to sink into the Western Conferences morass. The Flames probably couldn’t face a better potential “slump buster” than the Oilers at this point: mediocre even when healthy, the Oil are missing a bunch of their stars and are so poor at this point that many of their fans have started to cheer for more losses and a high draft pick.

Stuff to watch for:

– Rumor is, Langkow might actually move up to play with Iginla tonight. Please, please let this be true. 

– Dustin Penner‘s emergence this year as a legit top line performer is legit. Brule’s, however, probably isn’t.

– Has Mark Giordano looked like the best defender on the team the last little while to anyone else?

– What happens if Calgary loses this game folks? As Bob notes below, it has the whiff of "must win". Do some fingers start hovering over panic buttons if Calgary stinks the joint out in Edmonton this evening? Maybe start drawing up your hypothetical trade proposals now just in case.

Let's get it on.

by Kent Wilson