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Calgary Flames at Dallas Stars game preview: Gotta keep rolling

The last game against the Stars could have gone better. This one's gonna have to.

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Remember the Dallas Stars? Of course you do, the Calgary Flames played them just five days ago. They lost, 4-3 in a shootout that only made it there thanks to the efforts of one Deryk Engelland. Falling down 2-0, Johnny Gaudreau originally got the Flames on board as the Stars were continuing their efforts for a playoff push, and it was Engelland who tied it up, twice. The shootout loss was not ideal, but Engelland got the Flames what could be a very, very crucial point.

What’s better than a crucial point? Two crucial points, of course. That’s what the Flames got yesterday in a matinee against the Nashville Predators, a team they’ve inexplicably dominated throughout the season. Their third and final matchup paid some great dividends; although the Flames fell behind early, Lance Bouma tied it up. And then Kris Russell scored. And then a beauty fourth line shift got Michael Ferland his first NHL goal. And then Jiri Hudler scored. And then Bouma got the empty netter, sealing a 5-2 victory. And the Flames straight up dominated that game by all accounts, too. It was… really, really great. | Recap | Stats | Boxscore | Michael Ferland’s first! This is so important:

What have the Stars been up to since we last saw them? Well, first they got shutout 4-0 by the Edmonton Oilers, which… what? How? Huh? Then, the very next night, just as they were on the verge of taking a 3-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks, the Canucks were able to tie thanks to an end of the game powerplay. The Stars secured the extra point with a John Klingberg overtime winner, but they couldn’t have done that just a little earlier? Sheesh – inconsiderate.

For more on the Stars, head on over to Defending Big D.

Game time: 6:30 p.m. MT

Channel: SNW

All-time record: Not much has changed from five days ago. It's now a 72-62-25-7 record, with a +2 goal differential. Seems precarious.

Common threads: Starting goalies named Kar(r)i. Backup goalies named J(h)onas. David Schlemko.

Approaching milestones: Tonight is Jiri Hudler’s 600th career game! He could become a 70 point player; what a ride. It is also Rafa Diaz’s 200th career game! It is highly unlikely he reaches the 70 point marker tonight. Further on down the line, Lance Bouma is five away from 200, and Mikael Backlund, being eight from 300, will not reach that marker this season.

Karri Ramo got the day off yesterday, so he remains seven wins away from 50. The Flames have six games left this regular season, so he ain’t reaching that marker this year.

David Jones and Dennis Wideman remain eight and 10 goals away from 100, respectively. Who gets there first?

TJ Brodie remains on the verge of his 100th point, something he needs to reach already! Sean Monahan is nine points away from 100 himself, and wouldn’t it be wild if he achieved that this season? Dude needs to collect on his 30th goal already.

Opposition-wise, Jason Demers is two assists from 100. Shawn Horcoff is five points from 500. The former is more likely to happen than the latter, but let’s just skip all that and not let either go through, eh?

Scoreboard watching: The Flames are pretty much directly competing against three other teams for three spots right now. There are two very big games tonight to go alongside their own:

Current records and leaders

Calgary Flames Dallas Stars
Record: 41-28-7: 89 points Record: 37-29-10: 84 points
Pacific Division: 3rd Central Division: 6th
Western Conference: 8th Western Conference: 10th
Goal Differential: +23 Goal Differential: -7
Time on ice
Defence: Mark Giordano (25:10 per game)
Forward: Sean Monahan (19:34 per game)
Defence: Alex Goligoski (23:53 per game)
Forward: Jamie Benn (19:53 per game)
Points
Goals: Sean Monahan (29)
Assists: Jiri Hudler (41)
Points: Jiri Hudler (69)
Goals: Tyler Seguin (34)
Assists: Jamie Benn (44)
Points: Jamie Benn (72)
Shots
Shots on goal: Sean Monahan (181)
Shooting percentage: Jiri Hudler (19.4%)
Shots on goal: Tyler Seguin (258)
Shooting percentage: Trevor Daley (14.4%)
Faceoff Leaders
Sean Monahan (49.7%, 1705 taken) Jason Spezza (54.1%, 1151 taken)
Grit
Penalty minutes: Brandon Bollig (68)
Hits: Lance Bouma (250)
Blocked shots: Kris Russell (269)
Penalty minutes: Antoine Roussel (135)
Hits: Jamie Benn (111)
Blocked shots: Alex Goligoski (151)
ES Corsi/Fenwick (minimum 1/2 team’s games played)
Corsi for%: Mark Giordano (48.44%, 61 GP)
Mikael Backlund (47.08%, 46 GP)
Fenwick for%: Josh Jooris (49.40%, 56 GP)
Rafa Diaz (49.04%, 54 GP)
Corsi for%: Jason Demers (55.58%, 55 GP)
Jason Spezza (54.70%, 76 GP)
Fenwick for%: Patrick Eaves (56.48%, 41 GP)
Jason Demers (56.34%, 55 GP)

Possible starting lineups

Calgary Flames
Left Wing Center Right Wing
Johnny Gaudreau Sean Monahan Jiri Hudler
Lance Bouma Mikael Backlund David Jones
Mason Raymond Josh Jooris Joe Colborne
Michael Ferland Matt Stajan Drew Shore
Left Defence Right Defence
Kris Russell Dennis Wideman
TJ Brodie Deryk Engelland
David Schlemko Rafa Diaz
Goalies
Jonas Hiller
Karri Ramo

Dallas Stars
Left Wing Center Right Wing
Jamie Benn Cody Eakin Tyler Seguin
Patrick Eaves Jason Spezza Ales Hemsky
Antoine Roussel Vernon Fiddler Ryan Garbutt
Curtis McKenzie Shawn Horcoff Brett Ritchie
Left Defence Right Defence
Alex Goligoski John Klingberg
Patrik Nemeth Trevor Daley
Jyrki Jokipakka Jason Demers
Goalies
Kari Lehtonen
Jhonas Enroth

by Ari Yanover