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Carolina Hurricanes @ Calgary Flames, 7 PM MT, Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta
| Broadcast Schedule |
|---|
| TV: RSNF, FSCR |
| Radio: Sportsnet 960 |
The Carolina Hurricanes invade the Saddledome tonight in game 2 of a brief home stand for the Calgary Flames. Neither of these teams come into this contest setting the world on fire, but the Flames will look to grow their modest win streak to 2 games. Calgary’s floundering PP won’t get any help in this game as the Hurricanes have the 8th best PK in the NHL.
The Flames will look to continue their strong showing from their OT win against the Buffalo Sabres. Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau are looking like they are starting to click and while those two ease back in, the 3 Mikes are looking fantastic. Micheal Ferland scored his first goal against Buffalo and Michael Frolik got his team leading 3rd goal in the contest. Dennis Wideman and Nicklas Grossmann have both been healthy scratches in the last 2 games and the defence has been playing better with Brett Kulak and Jyrki Jokipakka in the lineup. Chad Johnson has been a rock in his last 2 starts, but will most likely give way to Brian Elliott in his return to the starting role. Elliott struggled in his first two starts of the season against Edmonton where he gave up 10 goals on 51 shots and he will look to get back on track against the scoring deficient Hurricanes.
Carolina comes in the owner of two points and have dropped 2 of their first 3 in overtime. While the Flames power play is buried in the basement of the NHL, the Hurricanes is ranked 3rd on the young season. 3 of the team’s 9 goals have come via the PP and Calgary’s middle of the pack PK shouldn’t be a roadblock to more power play success.
Here’s how the teams match up:
| Calgary Flames | Carolina Hurricanes | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2-1 | Record | 0-1-2 |
| 3 | Points | 2 |
| 4th Pacific | Division | 6th Metropolitan |
| 4th West | Conference | 5th East |
| N/A | Last 10 | N/A |
| 12 | Goals For | 9 |
| 16 | Goals Against | 12 |
| Frolik (3) | Goals | Stempniak (3) |
| Backlund (4) | Points | Stempniak (5) |
| Johnson (.923) | SV % | Lack (.871) |
| 6.3 % (28th) | PP % | 37.5 % (3rd) |
| 78.9 % (18th) | PK % | 90.0 % (8th) |
Calgary Flames 4 Buffalo Sabres 3 (OT)
The Flames finally got their first win of the season as they took down the Sabres in overtime 4-3. Matthew Tkachuk continued to impress and the 18 year old got his first NHL goal in the thrid period. Micheal Ferland had one of his best game in a Flames jersey as he pumped in his first goal of the season on 5 shots. Chad Johnson had another solid game in net with some key saves down the stretch to keep the game tied and get the Flames to overtime. In the extra frame Johnny Gaudreau fed Sean Monahan for the game winner, getting Calgary their first win of the season. Here are the highlights, post game and stats from the contest.
| Goals | Shots | Shots Allowed | Hits | FOW | PIM | Giveaways | Takeaways | PP | PK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 34 | 21 | 16 | 30/66 | 12 | 20 | 11 | 0/6 | 4/5 |
Carolina Hurricanes 2 Edmonton Oilers 2
The Hurricanes rolled into the Oilers’ new home and found themselves in a quick 3-0 hole. Former Flame Lee Stempniak provided some 3rd period heroics, but his 2 goals in the period weren’t enough to get Carolina to it’s third overtime game of the season. The Hurricanes and Cam Ward did the impossible holding Connor McDavid pointless on only two shots. Here are the highlights:
| Player | Record | GAA | SV % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary: Brian Elliott (expected) | 0-2-0 | 5.08 | .818 |
| Carolina: Eddie Lack (expected) | 0-0-1 | 4.00 | .871 |
Players To Watch
Calgary Flames: Brian Elliott (G). The Flames #1 goalie has had two straight games off with Chad Johnson is his place and it’s time for Elliott to get into top goaltender mode. He struggled mightily against the Oilers in his first two starts and while his defence didn’t help him much, he did appear to be fighting the puck a lot of the time. Much of Calgary’s future success rides on how well Elliott plays and this should be a good spot for him to get back on track as Carolina isn’t putting many pucks in the net.
Carolina Hurricanes: Lee Stempniak (F). The former Flames and veteran winger has found himself as a “player for hire” lately and he’s settled into his 7th team since the start of the 2013 season. Stempniak leads the Hurricanes in goals and points and finds himself 5th in ATOI on the team at 17:37.