The Calgary Flames will be in music city tonight to face off against the Nashville Predators. This will be the second meeting between the two teams.
In the first meeting between the Calgary Flames and Nashville Predators, it didn’t quite go as the Flames would have liked. The Flames were down 4-0 with four minutes left of the game. But then the Flames scored with 3:43 left of the game and fans are thinking “Well great, you’ve started your comeback too late.”
And then the Flames scored another goal 17 seconds later.
And then another.
Now suddenly, the Flames were down just one goal with 48 seconds left of the game. But unfortunately, they started their comeback too late and couldn’t get that game-tying goal. For more on that first meeting, there’s a post-game recap here.
But for tonight, the lineup will look slightly different. Let’s take a look.
The Crease
In the lineup tonight, Brian Elliott will get the start in the crease. In the first meeting, Chad Johnson was between the pipes and let in four goals on 17 shots. The Flames have employed a win-and-start goaltending method since the All-Star break. However, Elliott didn’t win the last game the Flames played against the Vancouver Canucks.
He did however only let in one goal. And he came up with a lot of big saves to send this game to overtime. And ever since the Flames employed the win-and-start method, he’s been the better of the two goalies. So the Flames have decided to go with him between the pipes tonight.
Via Calgaryflames.com:
"“In Vancouver, I thought he gave us a chance … he made some big saves to keep it 1-0 later on, especially on the PK. I think he’s in a little bit of a rhythm so he’s going to get this one tonight.” Said Gulutzan on starting Elliott tonight."
Related Story: Brian Elliott vs Chad Johnson debate
Projected Lineup
This is how the official projected lineup will look for tonight for the Flames.
Forwards:
Johnny Gaudreau – Sean Monahan – Troy Brouwer
Matthew Tkachuk – Mikael Backlund – Michael Frolik
Kris Versteeg – Sam Bennett – Alex Chiasson
Lance Bouma – Matt Stajan – Micheal Ferland
Defence:
Mark Giordano – Dougie Hamilton
TJ Brodie – Deryk Engelland
Matt Bartkowski – Michael Stone
Goaltending:
Brian Elliott
The Blue Line
Now, something else you may have noticed is that the blue line looks a little different. The Calgary Flames just acquired Michael Stone from the Arizona Coyotes in a trade made yesterday.
Stone used to play on that top unit with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but was demoted to the second unit where he spent a lot of this season on. So he is familiar and used to playing as a top-four defenceman.
Something the Flames desperately needed was that last top four defenceman to play alongside TJ Brodie. With the addition of Stone, many thought he would fill that role. However for tonight, the coaching staff has decided to put him on that third unit with another new addition to this roster, Matt Bartkowski. Bart just had his debut as a Flame the other night against the Canucks.
Even though Stone isn’t projected on the lineup alongside Brodie, that isn’t to say he won’t be moved if the Flames decide to make a change throughout the game. Or that he won’t be next game. He is right-handed, which I’m sure is what the Flames were looking for, for someone to play alongside Brodie.
Another thing you may have noticed is that Dennis Wideman isn’t in the lineup tonight. Something that Flames fans are ecstatic about. He did, however, assist on a goal that last time the Flames played in Nashville, but that’s not exactly something we see all the time. And seeing how he leads to many turnovers that lead to goals a lot of the time, fans would rather him out of the lineup than potentially assisting on a goal.
Other Notables
Calgary Flames
We all know it since everyone keeps mentioning it because it still hasn’t happened, but Sean Monahan is one goal away from 100 goals. The universe it out to get him now because he still has not gotten that 100th goal even though he gets many chances a night. He did score the last time the Flames played the Preds and assisted on another goal, so there is hope there.
Dougie Hamilton also had two assists that night, so maybe we’ll see him jump up on the play a lot tonight which he tends to do.
Each team had a powerplay goal the last time they played. The Preds went 1/4 on the man advantage and the Flames were 1/5. A conversation surrounding the Flames is how well they’ve improved their PP since the start of December. However, since returning from their bye-week, they’re 0/12 on the PP. Yikes.
They have been killing off penalties, some where they’re down two guys, and they’ve looked strong on the penalty kill as well. Especially Brian Elliott. They also say that your best penalty-killer is your goalie, and they’re right. I’m not exactly sure who ‘they’ is in this scenario, but I agree with them.
Now, if the Flames can just control their discipline…
Predictions
This is a tough one because the Preds and Flames look very similar right now. In terms of the standings, they’re basically neck and neck. Both teams have only won two of their last five. And based on the goaltending, Elliott has been great since the game before the All-Star break.
I think that if the Flames can push early and get an early goal, they can win this game. And if they win, they’ll be tied with the Preds for points and have only one game on hand. This win is huge for Calgary and I’m sure the team knows that.
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If the Flames can push early on, keep their discipline in check, and be able to capitalize on the powerplay, they can close that gap between them and the Predators. And I also believe that Brian Elliott will be a big factor in the game tonight.