FGD 54: The reset button (7pm MT, SN West)
By Ryan Pike
4 years agoThe last three outings for the Calgary Flames (27-20-6, 60 points) have been emotional, with a game against the Stanley Cup champions followed by a home-and-home with the Edmonton Oilers. Well, they finally get a bit of a reprieve in the form of the San Jose Sharks (22-27-4, 48 points), one of the Pacific Division’s lesser lights. This won’t be an emotional slugfest, and potentially could be a great reset for a Flames team that desperately needs to find some consistency.
It begins just after 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.
The Flames
Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Mangiapane – Lindholm – Tkachuk
Gaudreau – Monahan – Robinson
Lucic – Ryan – Dube
Jankowski – Backlund – Bennett
Gaudreau – Monahan – Robinson
Lucic – Ryan – Dube
Jankowski – Backlund – Bennett
Giordano – Andersson
Brodie – Hamonic
Hanifin – Stone
Brodie – Hamonic
Hanifin – Stone
David Rittich starts for the Flames, backed up by Cam Talbot. Today’s scratches are Oliver Kylington, Zac Rinaldo and Tobias Rieder.
The Flames are 1-1-1 since the All-Star Break. They’ve played two good games and one bad game. They need to bounce back from their porous defensive effort against the Oilers on Saturday. The Sharks may be the ideal opponent for this, given that they’re not amazingly deep right now and they’re missing a few offensive weapons. If the Flames can commit to structure and team play, they could capture two sorely needed points.
The Sharks
Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:
Kane – Goodrow – Marleau
Meier – Thornton – Labanc
M.Karlsson – True – Noesen
Sorensen – Suomela – Gambrell
Meier – Thornton – Labanc
M.Karlsson – True – Noesen
Sorensen – Suomela – Gambrell
Dillon – Burns
Vlasic – E.Karlsson
Simek – Ferraro
Vlasic – E.Karlsson
Simek – Ferraro
Aaron Dell starts for the Sharks, backed up by Martin Jones. Tim Heed will be a healthy scratch, but Maxim Letunov is expected to suit up (it’s unclear who he bumps out).
The Sharks are a depleted group. They’re 1-2-0 since the All-Star Break, beating the Anaheim Ducks but losing one-sided games to Vancouver and Tampa Bay. They have a few great players – hey there, Timo Meier – but they’re not the powerhouse team they once were.
The Numbers
| Flames | Sharks | |
| Wins | 27 | 22 |
| Points | 60 | 48 |
| Adjusted Corsi | 49.8% | 49.8% |
| Power Play | 19.6% | 16.0% |
| Penalty Kill | 81.6% | 87.2% |
Injury Report
The Flames are without D Juuso Valimaki (ACL surgery).
The Sharks are missing D Dalton Prout (upper body), F Logan Couture (ankle), F Tomas Hertl (knee) and F Joel Kellman (lower body).
When Last We Met
This is the second of four games between these teams this season. The Sharks beat Calgary 3-1 back in October. They’ll meet again next week in San Jose and then again in Calgary in March.
Know Thy Enemy
Here are some key Twitter peeps to follow for tonight’s opener:
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