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Calgary Flames

Calgary Flames at Columbus Blue Jackets [Game 22]

The cannon is stupid.

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The Calgary Flames didn’t fare too well in their last game against the Buffalo Sabres. Their special teams let them down in a big way as Buffalo scored three goals on the power play in the second period alone. The end result was a four to two loss. They look to build up momentum back up again tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus, Ohio.

Kris Versteeg is back in the lineup and the Flames are throwing him directly into the fire – He’ll be on the first line with Sean Monahan and Troy Brouwer. Some might consider it a bit sad that the guy making less than a million this year is being put out there in an attempt to revive the two individuals making over ten million betwen them, but that’s the state of the Flames right now. Sam Bennett takes Hunter Shinkaruk’s spot on the third line while Shinkaruk gets the scratch.

Brett Kulak is back in for Jyrki Jokipakka tonight. Jokipakka wasn’t horrible last game as he posted a 50 percent Corsi, but the long term data shows Kulak as a considerably better option. The pairs being rolled out tonight have won the lion’s share of games for the Flames, so ultimately they probably make the most sense moving forward.

Chad Johnson returns as the starter displacing Brian Elliott. While Elliott has had some horrid performances, he was the victim of the Flames atrocious penalty kill last game. He had a .9583 percent save percentage, but four goals against is still four goals against.

by Les Mavus