Game Preview: Flames vs. Canucks

After a disheartening loss to the Colorado Avalanche at home yesterday, the Calgary Flames  (35-29-15) don’t have much time to sit and stew- they’re immediately heading to take on one of their hated rivals, the Vancouver Canucks (48-21-9) with only a few gasps left in their playoff lives. The teams have split the season series so far, and the Flames have two games left against the Western Conference power, tonight and again next Thursday in Calgary. Here’s a few more tidbits on both teams as we look forward to the game.

The Canucks have been on a tear of late, having won five in a row despite an injury to Daniel Sedin, behind excellent work from both of their goaltenders. Roberto Luongo has a sore neck, so the capable Cory Schneider may get his first start against the Flames this year. Former Flame Chris Higgins appears to like facing them- he has four points in three games against them this year.

(The easy joke here is that Luongo’s got a sore neck from watching all those pucks go into the net, but I tend to think he gets more crap than he deserves- he’s played well this year, and the numbers bear that out. Schneider’s a hell of a backup, but I’m in the camp that the backup goalie tends to be the most popular guy in town, especially to the fickle fans of Vancouver).

The Flames picked the wrong time to go into a cold streak, having lost seven of their last eight games, and scored a grand total of 12 goals in that stretch (which includes a five goal outburst against Dallas on Monday). They’ll need to find a way to get what little offensive mojo they have back if they’re going to finish the season strong. When there hasn’t been offense, it’s the Flames’ stars that fall under the microscope: Jarome Iginla and Alex Tanguay have had just three points and two points respectively in the eight-game period, and Olli Jokinen, playing for his next contract, has had just two points and been a ghastly -12 in the same stretch.

You can tell a lot about a team by watching how they play when the games don’t mean anything, and it’s been gut-wrenching to watch the Flames give away chances to stay in the playoff race. Now that the team is all but eliminated (I believe a Canucks win would seal that possibility), we’ll see if the veteran team can motivate themselves to play with some pride, or if they don’t have the right mix of players, and need to make changes in the offseason.

Go Flames Go!