Calgary Flames vs Arizona Coyotes Preview 2/12/2016 (52/82)

Calgary Flames @ Arizona Coyotes, 9 PM ET, Gila River Arena, Glendale, AZ

Well, the Flames cruise into Glendale AZ on a nice little 3 game winning streak. Calgary had to work extra hard to take down the Sharks on Thursday night and there’s no rest as they take on Pacific Division foe Arizona in the always dreaded back to back. The Flames are an abysmal 3-13 in back to back games this season and the Coyotes find themselves at 11-9 in back to back games. But for the Flames, none of that matters. They need points and need them badly. So throw out the back to back game stats, Calgary needs to come into Gila River Arena with a full head of steam. This is game 3 of the 5 game season series and the Flames have dropped both contests so far this season against the ‘Yotes. While the Flames are 0-2 against Arizona this year, they’ve lost 2-1 and 2-1. It’s not like they’re getting blown out the water by an stretch of the imagination and the Coyotes are ripe for the picking. They come into this game on a 5 game skid where they’ve been out scored 23-11! One point seperates these guys in the standings and the Flames would be smart to pounce on the Coyotes early and put this game away faster than Arizona would like. Calgary will be without their #1 goalie Karri Ramo in this game as he was injured in the 3rd period of the Flames win over the Sharks. Here’s how the teams match-up:

4 periods of hockey wasn't enough for the Flames and Sharks on Thursday night. It took 4 rounds of a shoot out until Jiri Hudler slipped the game winner in to give the Flames a 6-5 win. Nothing about this game was pretty. There were power play opportunities every where, blown leads, bench minor penalties, injuries, you name it, it had it. Calgary blew a 4-1 lead and tied it late in the third at 5 to send it to OT. Karri Ramo and David Jones both left the game with injuries, but one bright spot was Mikael Backlund getting his 3rd point in as many games. Here's the highlights:

The Coyotes are slipping and slipping fast. They host the Flames in the midst of a 5 game losing streak. Arizona last played Wednesday night and lost to the Vancouver Canucks 2-1. Martin Hanzel’s 7th of the season was the lone goal for the Coyotes even though they peppered Ryan Miller with 35 shots. Here’s the highlights:

Calgary Flames Projected Lineup (these are the projected lines and can be changed any time before the puck drop)

Scratches: Brandon Bollig, Dennis Wideman (susp)

Injuries: David Jones, Karri Ramo

Arizona Coyotes Projected Lineup (these are the projected lines and can be changed any time before the puck drop)

Scratches:

Injuries: Joe Vitale, Mike Smith, Boyd Gordon

by Mark Parkinson