Connect with us

Calgary Flames

Preview: Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks 11/7/17 (15/82): Calgary Goes For Their 4th In A Row

Not only will a win give the Flames their 4th win in a row, but it will give them a 2-0 season series lead over Vancouver.

Published

on

Calgary Flames vs Vancouver Canucks, 7 PM MT, Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary AB

The Flames are hitting their stride with this current home stand, having won 3 straight, two of those over strong teams from the Eastern Conference. Calgary gets their second crack at Vancouver this season and the first meeting was their second highest regulation goal output of the season with 5 tallies against the Canucks. Goals haven’t come in bunches for the Flames this season, but they were able to get 4 on Sunday night against the Devils. Maybe Sunday night’s effort can jump start the Flames and give Mike Smith a little help as he has been shouldering the load so far this season. Sure he gave up 4 on Sunday, but he was due. You can only hold the fort for so long and he finally cracked, but at least the Flames were able to counteract that with some offence of their own.

The Canucks are neck and neck with the Flames in the West this season and a win for either team would create some a tiny bit of space in the standings. Vancouver comes into this game losers of 3 out of 4 after reeling off 4 wins in a row. Vancouver, like the Flames, are having trouble putting the puck in the net, but they have a thriving PK. The Canucks sit at 10th in the NHL in killing man down situations and that could be a big difference in the potential outcome of this game. Bad PP vs good PK usually ends poorly for the deficient team.

The Flames took the last meeting between these two 5-2 back on October 14th. Calgary lost 3 out of the 5 games they played against Vancouver last season, but they’ve gone 8-2-0 in their last 10 at the Saddledome against their divisional rivals.

What’s Happening With The Opposition?

Last Time Out

Calgary Flames 5 NJ Devils 4 (SO)

If you like goals this was your game. Eight regulation goals. Two penalty shots. Overtime and a shootout. This game pretty much had it all, but the Flames were able to hold off the upstart NJ Devils and win their third straight game, 5-4 in a shootout. Here’s our recap and the highlights from NHL.com

Vancouver Canucks 2 Detroit Red Wings 3

The Canucks looked like they were going to get one point out of this one, but Tomas Tartar buried the game winner with 1:14 left to sink the Canucks 3-2 Monday night. Vancouver got solid goaltending from Jacob Markstrom who stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced. Canucks Misconduct has the recap and NHL.com provides the highlights.

Players To Watch

Calgary Flames

T.J. Brodie (D). Brodie has been quiet in the offensive end of the rink lately, picking up 1 point in his last 5 games. Where Brodie has excelled is leading the Flames rush and getting the offence moving. Brodie has 9 points on the season and it took him until mid December last season to reach that total, so things are looking up. Brodie had an assist in the Flames 5-2 victory over Vancouver this season.

Vancouver Canucks

Derek Dorsett (F). Dorsett owns the rare distinction of leading his team in goals (6) and PIM (44). The Saskatchewan product has been held off the score sheet in his last 4, but he has also cut down on his time in the bin, taking only 1 penalty over that stretch. He got 1 of his 6 goals this season in Vancouver’s 5-2 loss to the Flames back in October.

by Mark Parkinson