Preview: Calgary Flames @ Pittsburgh Penguins 2/7/17 (56/82)

The Flames conclude a 3 game road trip with a stop in Pittsburgh to tangle with the Penguins. This is the first of 2 meetings between the teams this season and Calgary’s last game before their bye week. The Flames are just behind St. Louis in the playoff picture in 9th place and need to start stockpiling wins as they currently have games in hand on the teams ahead of them. The trip East hasn’t been a disaster as Calgary is 1-1-0 so far and find themselves winners of 3 of their last 4. The Flames do not play well when visiting the Pens however, as they hold a 12-28-10 record and give up an average of 3.7 GPG over than span (mcubed.net). Chad Johnson will get his first start in net since January 24th where he took the L in a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

The Penguins sit in 2nd place in the Met, firmly entrenched in the playoffs with 71 points. Pittsburgh is a red hot 7-3-0 in their last 10 and have outscored their opponents 38-29 over those 10, including 7 games where they’ve given up 3 goals or less. Pittsburgh dropped their only meeting at home with the Flames last season, but prior to that the Penguins were 9-1-0 against Calgary when the Flames pay a visit.

Here’s how the teams match-up:

What’s Happening With The Opposition?

Last Time Out

Calgary Flames 3 NY Rangers 4

The Flames last skated on Sunday for a matinee showdown with the Rangers and lost 4-3. Calgary put up a valiant fight at the end to try and get the win, but came up short. Brian Elliott stopped 28 of 32 shots in taking the loss. Here’s our recap, highlights and stats from the contest.

Pittsburgh Penguins 4 St. Louis Blues 1

Pittsburgh is the next in a line of teams that the Flames will face who are well rested. Pittsburgh last hit the ice on Saturday and took down the Blues 4-1. Sidney Crosby led the way with 2 goals and an assist, while Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 of 23 shots to get the win. Pensburgh has the recap and NHL.com provides the highlights.

Who’s Hot, Who’ Not

Calgary Flames

Photo by Derek Leung/Getty Images

Hot: Dougie Hamilton (D). Dougie scored the opening goal in the Flames loss to the Rangers, giving him 3 points in his last 5 games. Hamilton has 11 points in his last 14 games and has only lit the lamp twice in the stretch, but is piling up the helpers. Dougie is tied for 4th on the team in points with 33.

Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Not: Mark Giordano (D). While his defence has been stellar, the Flames Captain has a goose egg in his last 8 games. Giordano has historically balanced the defence and offence well, but this season his numbers at the other end of the rink are down. This 8 game drought is his second longest of the season, having a 9 game game pointless streak back in Oct/Nov.

Pittsburgh Penguins

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Hot: Phil Kessel (F). Kessel has been piling up the points lately. He has 5 points in his last 5 and 16 over his last 20. Kessel is 3rd on the team in points with 50, 33 of which are assists.

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Not: Ian Cole (D). Cole has 2 points over his last 10 and only 1 in his last 5. On the plus side, Cole is already at a career high in points with 17, but his contributions have been little to nothing as of late.