Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
After last nights overtime loss against the Edmonton Oilers with a score of 4-3, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be looking for redemption against the Calgary Flames tonight.
And the Flames will be searching for a win against the Penguins in order to break the losing streak that they’ve had for the past few games, winning only two of their last twelve games. With five shutouts in the last seven games, Calgary will have to dig deep to win against one of the top teams in the league. Pittsburgh is at the top of the Metropolitan Division with a record of 32-12-2 while the Calgary Flames are near the bottom of the Pacific Division with 15-23-6.
Sidney Crosby has a record of six goals and a total of nine points overall against the Flames. I think we can expect him to be a force on the ice tonight against Calgary. But with Mark Giordano at the head of the defensive machine, and in light of the defensive breakdowns lately, I’m hoping Gio will lead his team to push back against the Pens.
With the offensive potential behind players like Mike Cammalleri, Jiri Hudler, and Matt Stajan, and with Reto Berra starting in net tonight, Calgary won’t make it easy for Pittsburgh to win. The Flames are notorious for pushing back at the most unexpected times. If they can pot the first goal in tonight’s match-up, I think the momentum may carry them throughout the game.
In spite of their 1-6-0 record in the past few games, the Flames were seemingly upbeat at practice yesterday. As Giordano said yesterday on Flames TV, the team looks good offensively, which is helping the team to stay positive by focusing on what’s going right. On the defensive end, Gio feels that they may be lacking, but he will work hard and push back against the other teams in order to step up his game.
As he expressed, “you just play to win the game.” And this is the winning attitude that will eventually get the Flames back on track and winning more games.
Puck drop is 8pm MT and will be televised on CBC Hockey Night In Canada.
Go Flames Go!