FGD 55: Matinee Square Garden (noon MT, SN 360)

It’s Super Bowl Sunday! A year ago, this date represented just how far off track the Calgary Flames were as a trio of the team’s youngsters were benched following some tardiness to practice. This season? The Flames are riding a three game winning streak into a rare matinee game, as the National Hockey League attempts to squeeze their Sunday schedule in before kickoff. They face a tough Eastern Conference opponent in the New York Rangers.

Puck drop is just after noon MT on Sportsnet 360 and Sportsnet 960 The Fan!

Lines via Daily Faceoff:

Due to winning his last three appearances, Brian Elliott gets the nod for the Flames tonight. He’s 11-12-2 with a 2.80 goals against average and .896 save percentage in 26 appearances this season. Don’t look now, but after a really rough start to the season Elliott is almost back at .500. He’s been excellent for the Flames over the last few games, a couple rough goals aside.

Since the Flames are rolling right now, don’t expect any changes to their lineup. Ladislav Smid (neck) and Garnet Hathaway (upper body) are still out, though Hathaway should be back any game now. That’ll leave Brett Kulak and Freddie Hamilton as the healthy extras. The 3M Line has quieted down offensively of late, but Sean Monahan and Johnny Gaudreau have woken up as many had hoped they would. Imagine what could happen if 3M can get going again and perhaps Sam Bennett manages to find his swagger? Scoring depth sounds crazy considering how this season has gone.

The Flames have scored power play goals in six of their last 10 games. That’s good. They’ve allowed power play goals in seven of their last 10 games. That’s bad.

Lines via Daily Faceoff:

The most interesting man in the world, Henrik Lundqvist, starts for the Rangers tonight. He’s 22-13-1 with a 2.73 goals against average and .907 save percentage. He’s been pretty good this season, but backup Antti Raanta has been better. The Rangers remain without Kevin Hayes, though he’s expected back soon.

The Rangers’ third line – particularly Grabner and Fast – killed the Flames last time they faced each other. New York is a challenging team to face because of their depth. The Flames will need to be sharp tonight and avoid any unnecessary mistakes.

This is the 115th game between the Flames and Rangers in the regular
season. The Flames hold a 55-39-20 record in the all-time series. The Rangers beat Calgary at the Saddledome back in November. It wasn’t a good showing from the team in red.

Here are some Rangers follows for tonight:

It’s a rare matinee game! Wake up and have some bacon (or whatever your preferred brunch food is), then see if the Flames can inch closer to cementing a playoff spot. They’ve played quite well lately and will need to continue their consistency if they want to beat the Rangers.