Preview: Calgary Flames vs Columbus Blue Jackets 12/16/16 (33/82)

The Flames are back at it tonight after a tough 6-3 loss on Wednesday as they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets from the Scotiabank Saddledome. Both of the these teams are trending upward with Calgary winning 8 of their last 11 and the Blue Jackets having won 7 straight. Calgary did have a 6 game winning streak of their own going, but had that snapped at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday night. Speaking of trending upwards with the Flames: their PP unit. For much of the early season Calgary found themselves dead last in the league when playing with the extra skater, but oh how times have changed. The Flames currently sit at 17th in the league at they’ve scored a PP goal in 6 straight.

The Blue Jackets are one of the hottest teams in the NHL and their place in the conference standings shows how dominant the East has been so far this season. Columbus sits in 4th place in the East with a record of 18-5-4. If they were a Western Conference team? They’d be in 2nd place behind the Chicago Blackhawks. Columbus has played lights out this season after a fairly pedestrian 3-3-1 month of October. They’ve had only 2 (!) regulation loses since the calendar turned to November. One of those 2 being a 2-0 shut out loss at the hands of Chad Johnson and the Flames back on Nov 23rd.

This is the final meeting of the two teams this season and a sweep of the Jackets would be a huge lift for a Calgary team that has finally found it’s footing after stumbling early. Here’s how the teams match-up:

Calgary Flames 3 Tampa Bay Lightning 6

The Flames last took to the ice on Wednesday night and took one on the chin thanks to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Chad Johnson was chased after the 2nd period, having given up 4 goals and Brian Elliott allowed a goal on the first shot he faced. TJ Brodie lead the Flames with a goal and an assist, but the Flames 3rd period comeback attempt fell short. Here’s our recap, the highlights, Glen Gulutzan’s post game, Chad Johnson’s thoughts on the loss and the stats from the game.

Columbus Blue Jackets 3 Edmonton Oilers 1

The Blue Jackets won their 7th in a row on Tuesday night, taking down the Edmonton Oilers 3-1. Sergei Bobrovsky won his 4th straight, stopping 33 of the 34 shots he faced and Sam Gagner had a 2 point effort to lead Columbus to the victory. Jackets Cannon has the recap and NHL.com provides the highlights.

Players To Watch

Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Calgary Flames: Chad Johnson (G). IF Johnson gets the start it will be interesting to see how he bounces back after being pulled from the game during Wednesday night’s 6-3 loss. Johnson has been a rock for the Flames this season and is one of the major reasons for the Flames turnaround. Johnson has been between the pipes in 9 out of the Flames last 10 and only lost twice.

Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

Columbus Blue Jackets: Sergei Bobrovsky (G). Another IF, but if Bobrovsky starts, this will be a great goaltending battle. Bobrovsky leads the NHL in wins (17), is 2nd in shutouts (3 tied with Johnson) and is just outside of the Top 5 in Save % and GAA. Bobrovsky gave up 2 goals on 18 shots the last time these two played and since that loss he’s gone 7-0-1.