The Flames (32-23-9) are in St. Louis tonight for the second half of a home-and-home with the Blues (28-25-9) after taking the two points at the Saddledome on Sunday. The good guys were somewhat lucky to emerge with the 'W,' as one goal was enough to win the game with the help of some fortuitous bounces, and tonight will require much more of a convincing effort as time continues to wind down on the 2010-11 season.
While their top-six is still fairly solid, Brad Boyes getting traded to the Buffalo Sabres following Sunday night's game means the Blues' offence is instantly thinner than when we last saw them, and as such Adam Cracknell will be one of three forwards to get another shot at sticking with the club tonight against his former team. For the Flames, yesterday's small adjustments to the roster in the addition of Brett Carson and Fredrik Modin will not make an impact on tonight's lineup, as neither player will suit up for their new club just yet--in fact Carson has yet to join the team altogether, but is expected to do so sometime before tomorrow's tilt at the United Center in Chicago.
Some were surprised to see Curtis Glencross still with the team following yesterday's deadline, especially after news surfaced of stalled negotiations between himself and AGM Jay Feaster, but he's still here and will be looking to continue producing tonight despite having cooled off somewhat recently. With just one goal and three points in his past five games, it has been linemate David Moss doing the dirty work of late, with goals in each of his past two contests.
Lines and Pairings:
Tanguay-Morrison-Iginla
Glencross-Jokinen-Moss
Bourque-Stajan-Jackman
Hagman-Backlund-Kostopoulos
Regehr-Bouwmeester
Giordano-Sarich
Babchuk-Staios
Miikka Kiprusoff will start again tonight for the Flames after a bounce-back performance in Sunday's shutout win over the Blues, while the Flames will get another crack at sophomore 'tender Ben Bishop in the Blues' crease.
Enjoy the game everyone and breathe a sigh of relief that Calgary is still in possession of its first-round pick in the comments. Go Flames.