Calgary Flames To Welcome All-Star Host Nashville Predators
By Darcy Hume
Coming off of a dreary road trip capped off with what was probably their best effort against the Dallas Stars, the Calgary Flames are set to face-off against the Nashville Predators.
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A team that is on a three game winning streak and has 54 points, good enough for 6th in the Central Division; Nashville currently sits one point out of the Western wild card spot, a place the Calgary Flames right now can only dream of.
What can we expect from this Calgary Flames team after going a miserable 1-3-1 on their road swing?
Well, expect a fired up team, who really showed up to play for the second half of their last game against the deadly Dallas Stars. The Calgary Flames showed more resolve near the end of the Stars game.
As well as showing that they aren’t completely lost on the power-play, with what was probably the best collective effort we had seen on this road trip. Unfortunately, it did not result in a goal – but at this point, any progress is good progress.
Related Story: Calgary Flames Need Powerplay Improvement
The Calgary Flames are set to dress a similar roster to which we saw against the Dallas Stars:
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – David Jones
Sam Bennett – Mikael Backlund – Michael Frolik
Joe Colborne – Markus Granlund – Jiri Hudler
Lance Bouma – Matt Stajan – Josh Jooris
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Mark Giordano – TJ Brodie
Kris Russell – Dougie Hamilton
Deryk Engelland – Dennis Wideman
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Starter: Karri Ramo
Scratches: Brandon Bollig, Mason Raymond, Ladislav Smid
Still out with injury for the Calgary Flames is energy forward Micheal Ferland, who went down with an apparent upper body injury that we could all assume was a concussion after taking an errant knee to the head.
Related Story: Flames Will Be Missing Ferland Against Hurricanes
Nashville’s lines are something you dream about – a generous balance of size and skill which is enough to instill fear just looking at the line-up.
Miikka Salomaki – Ryan Johansen – James Neal
Filip Forsberg – Mike Fisher – Craig Smith
Mike Ribeiro – Calle Jarnkrok – Austin Watson
Eric Nystrom – Paul Gaustad – Cody Bass
*
Roman Josi – Shea Weber
Barret Jackman – Ryan Ellis
Mattias Ekholm – Peter Granberg
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Starter: Pekka Rinne
Possible narratives for this game are the trade of Ryan Johansen leading him to the contending Nashville Predators. Since joining the Preds, Johansen has shown up as advertised posting 9 points in 9 games; numbers that most guys on the Calgary Flames roster would struggle for this year.
Former Windsor Spitfire, Ryan Ellis comes off of playing his 250th NHL game; Ellis is 8 points short of a milestone – reaching 100 points on his career.
Needless to say though, tonight should be a good game, filled to the brim with skill, speed and goal-scoring. Hopefully in favour of the Calgary Flames!
Next: Flames Seeing The Real Jiri Hudler This Year?
Who in the Nashville line-up is biggest threat to the Calgary Flames tonight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.