The last time the Calgary Flames (18-15-4) were in Anaheim, the game almost didn’t happen. The Southern California area was absolutely deluged with wildfires – which it thankfully is not anymore. The last time the Flames were in Anaheim, something unusual happened: they won. The Flames hope that bit of unusual continues when they meet the Anaheim Ducks (16-14-8) in their second game in as many nights to kick off the post-Christmas portion of their schedule.
It’s the latest start time of the season tonight! The puck drops at 8 p.m. MT on Sportsnet 960 The Fan and Sportsnet West.
The Flames
Last night’s lines, courtesy of Daily Faceoff:
Gaudreau – Monahan (A) – Ferland
Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik**
Bennett – Jankowski – Hathaway
Brouwer (A) – Stajan – Jagr
Giordano (C) – D.Hamilton
Brodie – Hamonic
Kulak – Stone
Mike Smith starts tonight. He’s 14-12-3 with a 2.57 goals against average and a .919 save percentage. He’s backed up by David Rittich. Michael Frolik’s status is unknown for tonight after he took a Brent Burns shot to his face. In theory, if he’s absent his lineup spot likely goes to Curtis Lazar and his spot on the line with Backlund and Tkachuk probably goes to either Troy Brouwer or Jaromir Jagr, who took turns in his spot last night. (Lazar himself would be a decent fit with his speed, though.) Matt Bartkowski and Freddie Hamilton are the other healthy scratches.
The new-look Flames power-play scored a goal. They also had many chances to score another one, especially late in the game, but they could not. The club’s special teams have to be something that creates momentum. The Flames’ PP and penalty kill have progressed from “actively hands momentum to opponent” territory to “fine,” but they still have a way to go. Against the Ducks, those units will need to be sharp to help the Flames capture two points.
UPDATE: Per Kristen Odland of Postmedia (who’s on the trip): Frolik’s out, the third line stays intact but the team has some players who are game-time decisions so there will be some lineup shuffling (aside from keeping that third line together).
The Ducks
Projected lines via Daily Faceoff:
Rakell – Getzlaf (C) – Kase
Roy – Henrique – Silfverberg
Cogliano – Kesler (A) – Wagner
Ritchie – Vermette – Shaw
Lindholm – Manson
Fowler (A) – Bieksa
Beauchemin – Montour
John Gibson starts for the Ducks. He’s 11-12-4 with a 2.78 goals against average and a .921 save percentage. He’s backed up by Ryan Miller. The healthy extras are Korbinian Holzer, former Flame Derek Grant and Andy Welinski.
The Ducks haven’t been themselves this year, wobbling around .500 due to some inconsistency. That said, their inconsistency probably stems from the fact that they literally have not been themselves this season due to a slew of injuries. Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler have recently returned – pause for boos for the returning Ryans – but the Ducks still closed off their pre-Christmas schedule with a 4-1 loss to the powerhouse Vegas Golden Knights. They’re almost healthy, aside from Patrick Eaves and Corey Perry, but it’ll take them a bit to get their chemistry and confidence back.
Injury Report
Flames: Daniel Pribyl (knee) and Kris Versteeg (hip) are on the injured reserve.
Anaheim: Mike Liambas (undisclosed), Patrick Eaves (Guillain-Barre syndrome) and Corey Perry (lower-body) are on the injured reserve.
When Last We Met
This is the second of four meetings between these clubs. The Flames broke the Honda Center Curse back in October by way of a 2-0 Mike Smith shutout. Sean Monahan and Mikael Backlund scored goals. There was a parade, I think.
The Numbers
| CGY | ANA | |
| Wins | 18 | 16 |
| Points | 40 | 40 |
| Adjusted Corsi | 52.2% | 47.0% |
| Power Play | 17.8% | 17.3% |
| Penalty Kill | 77.3% | 82.8% |
Know Thy Enemy
These nice folks will tweet about the Ducks tonight:
Sum It Up
The Flames hope to bounce back from last night’s effort in San Jose with a win tonight. Or, at the very least, another point would be nice. But after this, the schedule gets easier… Oh wait, nope: the next five games are Chicago, Los Angeles, Anaheim again, Minnesota and Tampa Bay. The Flames better grab the points they can wherever they can.
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Goodbye playoffs,
Hello, no first round pick
Whose at fault?
Time for accountability.
MANAGEMENT.
Perhaps a different coach would have better results with the same group. Yes BT has made a few groaner moves, but overall he has made the team stronger. On paper.
Wrong. He set the team back. Every GM can sign players to affordable contracts, he’s failed at every other category and cost the team money and valuable time and should be the first to be relieved of his duties.
You win some, you lose some. On the whole, the roster and farm depth is vastly improved VS before he came. Feaster famine anyone? Goaltending is solidified, the d men should be better than they are showing and there is a lot of talent in our forward group. You can lead a horse to water but can’t make him drink.
Change the system and coaching style and I’ll bet the results would be much different. The biggest drawback of all from BT was the hiring of Gully. I am willing to give him one mulligan on that
They were playing back to back but what a putrid effort in the 1st and 3rd except for the last couple minutes maybe. What are they waiting for? Teams are leaping over them daily.
How many goals have we scored with our goalie pulled?
I bet the Oilers had more tonight than we have all season….
WW
And the news down south does not get any better as the Heat lose 4-3. Lack gives up 2 goals in the last 3 minutes to snatch defect from the jaws of victory.
Boooo~!
What an excellent signing Lack was.
At least Lack’s in Stockton! 😉
Or goaltending here is playoff calibre. Our coaching staff is AHL-calibre. Thus, we are screwed.
We didn’t sign lack – we traded for him…more assets sent for an aging goalie no in the minors and a defencemen that we bought out
So at least we get to keep the cap hit in exchange !
How did Lomberg look? We could use his kind of fire and brimstone, here. “Just giving” every shift. Or so it seems…
He is on top line with Mangiapane and Findlay. Playing well now that he is on the wing.
He’s playing RW, hey? Good news. Recall him while Frolik’s on the mend! 😉
Did We Get the Tie? Did we Win the Corsi? are we Back Down to .500 Yet? Good Time Gully! Awesome!
Glen Gulutzan no emotion on his face, I don’t see any energy from him just eyeballing the jumbotron, staring at the ipad for eterntiy. When your leader has/doesn’t show any fire it trickles down to the whole team. He’s too passive, Eakins 2.0.
Gulutzan has no idea how to turn this around. He is truly clueless.
Eakins 2.0. Agreed.
Eakins got the Oilers McDavid;
Solid first line player.
What will GG get us?
WW
It’s more like this; BT set us up to have no picks if GG $#%& the bed.
Exactly.
Get rid of the coach.
No passion. Can’t even talk to the players after a game.
Gonna ridicule the players to the press.
His time is way passed due.
Fire him now
The whole team shared blank look on their faces near the end. It’s infectious. There’s very little emotion shown ever
Time for the Flames to start trading for draft picks. Anything with any value. Backlund, Frolik, Ferland, Hamonic, Smith. Trade them all. This team is NO GOOD!
It’s not the team. It’s the player usage, the coaching, and the overall uninspiring leadership.
A coach like Hitchcock would do wonders w/this roster. It’s not the roster. Generally speaking.
The players still have to play the games. We can’t trade the coaches. They have no value! This season is lost. We need Draft picks.
We need to replace our coach and make the playoffs. This roster could make the playoffs. Our goaltending is set up for a potential deep run. We need to bring more kids up, hire a coach like Daryl Sutter, and play inspired, stormtrooper hockey. Trading for picks is a losing attitude. Like playing for the tie. For the point, instead of the win.
Don’t think this team can play Sutter’s kind of hockey.
Every time I watch this team play I say to myself, “This is the worst game I’ve ever watched. They are playing so bad, there’s just absolutely no way they could play any worse than they are right now” and every single time, every game, this team proves me wrong. As in, just when I think these guys have played the worst game I’ve ever seen, they do it again, and again, again. No first round pick to ease the pain when we finish bear the bottom of the league.
Again, this team is possibly moving, do you really think emphasis is really on winning? Do you think Edwards is going to hurt the fans here by moving their beloved team to the States just as they are contending for a cup? That would be pretty insensitive to his ardent fanbase that have stuck behind the team. He’s shopping the team the writing is on the wall now that Bettman is involved. He’s not too worried where they stand in the division. This is a play out of the movie Slapshot.
Losing the way this team is, constantly missing nets, not getting breaks, hitting posts, never playing with a lead of more than a goal, is excruciating. Shoot the damned puck. Wide open net? Maybe I’ll try for a better angle….SHOOT THE PUCK! Side note, the way the Ducks played the third is how you play with a one-goal lead. They didn’t turtle and let us attack, to see if the defense could hold. They kept attacking. Fire Cameron, fire GG, fire the goalie coach, the PK guy, everyone. Keep Gelinas, let him finish the season. Throw this brutal system in the garbage, and kill it with fire.
Conroy as GM, Geli as coach.
Geli for sure, but last night someone said Conroy as an assistant. Great idea. Go that route until the right coach becomes available
I think Hrudey is smarter than Conroy…
Just for reference…
WW
At this point we just need guys on the bench that aren’t GG, Cameron, or Gerard. Conroy fits that profile.
Conroy as assistant coach is fine.
Conroy as GM is a disaster…
WW
I think you have a serious drinking problem and its affecting your ability to generate a rational thought.
Coaching.
Coaching.
Coaching.
Need I say more….
My daughter and I were talking in the 3rd period about how the Ducks were doing everything they could to finish us off and how it was the exact opposite to what we did last night.
Remember how bad this team was early on last season? Best we can do by December 31 is to tie last years point total by the end of the year.
That’s right, last year, 39 games played by December 31, 42 points. Right now 38 games, 40 points. We have to beat Chicago on Sunday to equal the disaster that was the start of last season.
The excuse last year was that we were learning GG’s system and the goaltending was not great.
Any thoughts on what the excuses should be this year?
2-4-2 through 8 of a critical 12 game stretch. Losses to all of those we are fighting for a spot with. Not a single win in games it has mattered (the 4 pointers).
Can still get in, but the hole is getting deep.
For the record, last year a mess of teams were below us despite the bad start. We really only had to catch LA. This year many are ahead, and those teams are playoff quality. It is very different from last years situation. We are in way deeper trouble this year.
Fire the coach
BT and BB are getting the paperwork together right now.
These two should also be held accountable. They signed Brouwer, hired GG, dumped all our picks Yes, for Smith, but for Lazar and Hamonic???)
I agree. They brought this mess upon us. It still baffles me that BT thought or still thinks Glen was/is the one to get this team to the next level.
da
Yup, the whole Central Division is ahead of us, with the exception of the Avs , who are one point behind.
We’re 11th in our Conference.
Chicago next..
Only reason the team went to the plaoffs last year was because majority of the other Western teams were losing. It’s very rare a pro team slips in to the playoffs riding .500 hockey. This year nothing much has changed and BT is NOWHERE to be found.
It’s going to take 92-95 points to make postseason. I’ve done some simulations and have us pegged for 89 points. Far cry from the 100 points GG was shooting for.
Of course we’re only 38 games in and my calculations could change, but based on our current play I don’t see us finishing above 10th place. I hope I’m dead wrong!
That’s interesting. The model I run has Flames 10th as well at 90.5 points, first time all season it has had them out of a playoff spot. Last West wildcard spot has 93 (Chicago in this scenario). Dallas is in the first wildcard spot. Minny also misses in 9th in the west.
Skylar, I have basically the same, Dallas at 95 points in the first Wildcard spot.
I have Minnesota and Chicago tied for 8th place at 92 points, the edge going to Minnesota by 2/10 as of yesterday.
You can change all the coaches, this team will not make the playoffs. They can’t score.
Change the system and the goals will start to go in. They never have a wave of attackers because they have to be in the right spot defensively.
Call Daryl Sutter.
Yeah lets regress. We already are under the current MANAGEMENT.
*COACHING STAFF
Anyone see Kesler slap the mouth guard right out of Tkachuk’s mouth. Priceless.
I also saw Tkachuk almost enjoying himself, as he poked annoying jabs into Kesler’s face…
its ok ! We’re still ahead of the Coyotes, our corsi is trending so well and this was a real character building loss ( oh sorry – I just threw up a bit in my mouth )
What is with flames defensemen standing around and firing the puck up to centre, half the time not connecting and icing the puck. That is a zero percentage play unless there is somebody open. Is pure laziness. Brody for one.
We need more of what Bartowski did. Despite his other faults he is one guy that will do that at least once a game.
Now we get to listen to these lame excuses about the Flames not being ready to compete in a hard game. Well say something to the Flames before the darn game and correct the mistakes once and for all. If it isn’t one thing it’s another. Typical of a sub par team.
If only our d men had the green light to bring the puck up the ice from Gully. It’s like they are afraid to
Time the game and what? Complacency sets in again.
Game tied. Time to put her on cruise.
I’ve had enough of coach GG and his toilet training
Mostly great individual efforts out there until a weak link gets a hold of the puck.
Its a team game not an individual effort FYI.