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A couple days off, a new contract for the head coach, and the Calgary Flames should be ready to get back at it. That's what we're hoping for, at least, because they're currently riding a six-game losing streak, and must be anxious to break out of it as the holidays approach. Tonight they're hosting the seemingly underachieving Dallas Stars, who have been winning a bit as of late. The two are starting to pull closer together in the Western Conference standings.
When we last saw the Flames, they gave up a couple of terrible goals against the New York Rangers as Rick Nash, Chris Kreider, and Derek Stepan got the jump on them. Jiri Hudler and Curtis Glencross got the Flames on the board, but it was a bit too late for them as Henrik Lundqvist and his group were able to hold off the hard-pressing group. | Recap | Stats recap | Boxscore | They did try:
As for the Stars, they've only played twice in the last week, but they've won both games. First, they beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3, fending off a last-minute Devils pushback. Most recently, Colton Sceviour scored the game-winning goal and Kari Lehtonen stopped 27 shots as the Stars shutout the Vancouver Canucks in a 2-0 victory. It was their second shutout of the season.
For more on the Stars, be sure to check out Defending Big D and our upcoming Q&A with them!
Game time: 7:00 p.m. MT
Channel: SNW
All-time record: The all-time Flames franchise combines for a 72-61-25-6 record against the all-time Stars franchise. This includes a goal differential of just +4, which isn't really a lot. So historically, things have been mostly close between these two.
Common threads: Well, before the Flames drafted Sean Monahan, they were rumoured to possibly be dealing their 2013 sixth overall pick, along with Johnny Gaudreau, for Tyler Seguin. The Stars ended up with the NHL's current leading scorer instead, and I think we're all rather happy to have retained Monahan and Gaudreau, so... good job, everyone, we made it out of that situation A-OK.
Approaching milestones: Jiri Hudler remains at 198 assists. He could still get 200 tonight, but that would involve his teammates scoring goals, and not him and his very high shooting percentage.
Current records and leaders
Calgary Flames | Dallas Stars | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
17-14-2: 36 points | 12-13-5: 29 points | ||||
Pacific Division: 5th | Central Division: 6th | ||||
Western Conference: 9th | Western Conference: 11th | ||||
Time on ice | |||||
Defence: TJ Brodie (24:52 per game) Forward: Sean Monahan (19:28 per game) |
Defence: Trevor Daley (24:26 per game) Forward: Tyler Seguin (19:47 per game) |
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Points | |||||
Goals: Jiri Hudler (13) Assists: Mark Giordano (23) Points: Mark Giordano (31) |
Goals: Tyler Seguin (23) Assists: Jamie Benn Jason Spezza (18) Points: Tyler Seguin (38) |
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Shots | |||||
Shots on goal: Sean Monahan (86) Shooting percentage: Jiri Hudler (21.3%) |
Shots on goal: Tyler Seguin (119) Shooting percentage: Tyler Seguin (19.3%) |
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Faceoff Leaders | |||||
Sean Monahan (49.7%, 712 taken) | Jason Spezza (55.2%, 466 taken) |
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Grit | |||||
Penalty minutes: Brandon Bollig (40) Hits: Lance Bouma (101) Blocked shots: Kris Russell (95) |
Penalty minutes: Antoine Roussel (62) Hits: Erik Cole (58) Blocked shots: Trevor Daley (64) |
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Corsi/Fenwick (minimum 1/2 team's games played) | |||||
Corsi for%: Jiri Hudler (48.9%, 32 GP) TJ Brodie (48.4%, 33 GP) Mark Giordano (48.4%, 33 GP) Fenwick for%: Jiri Hudler (49.7%, 32 GP) Johnny Gaudreau (49.6%, 32 GP) |
Corsi for%: Colton Sceviour (53.3%, 24 GP) Tyler Seguin (52.2%, 29 GP) Fenwick for%: Patrick Eaves (55.7%, 19 GP) Colton Sceviour (55.3%, 24 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 | ||||
Raphael Diaz | Deryk Engelland | ||||
Goalies | |||||
Jonas Hiller | |||||
Karri Ramo |
Dallas Stars | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Left Wing | Center | Right Wing | |||
Jamie Benn | Jason Spezza | Tyler Seguin | |||
Antoine Roussel | Cody Eakin | Ales Hemsky | |||
Curtis McKenzie | Travis Moen | Erik Cole | |||
Shawn Horcoff | Vernon Fiddler | Colton Sceviour | |||
Left Defense | Right Defense | ||||
Alex Goligoski | John Klingberg | ||||
Jyrki Jokipakka | Trevor Daley | ||||
Jordie Benn | Jason Demers | ||||
Goalies | |||||
Kari Lehtonen | |||||
Anders Lindback |
Despite the losing streak, the Flames seem content to run the roster they have the past few games, albeit swapping the starting goalies. It's pretty much the best personnel they can put out at the moment, so no objections here. They'll pull themselves out of it sooner or later.