Calgary Flames at Arizona Coyotes [Game 34]

The Calgary Flames had themselves a nice win streak going before a five Say hiatus. After a brief layoff and a couple of lineup changes they went and lost two straight. Now after another short layoff, they’re back at it again to take on the 29th place Arizona Coyotes.

The only lineup change of note is Garner Hathaway drawing in for Lance Bouma. To be frank Bouma was better than Hathaway in his limited showing, but confirmation bias is rampant in the NHL so Hathaway it is. That’s not ideal.

The defense is the same which continues to be the most perplexing thing about this team. The second pairing has been a disaster, but they continue to roll with them. Maybe that’s an attempt to trade Dennis Wideman, but the limited return for him can’t be worth this shot to morale. Jyrki Jokipakka is supporting a relative Corsi of under -6.5 percent, but is a staple in the lineup.

Brian Elliott finally gets a chance to start. It’s the Coyotes, so it makes sense. Hopefully he can build up some positive feelings with the staff and finally draw more starts.

by Les Mavus