Calgary Flames: Three things to watch for vs Minnesota Wild

After a disappointing loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday evening, the Calgary Flames are back at it tonight against the Minnesota Wild. Here are three things to watch for.

It’s time for another game! After the Calgary Flames made their fans wait five days for another game only for a disappointing loss against the Carolina Hurricanes, they’ll be playing the Minnesota Wild tonight.

The Wild haven’t started their season off like they did last year. Currently, they’re just 1-2-2 and are tied for second last place in the Western Conference. In their first five games last season, they were 3-1-1. The Flames won all three matchups between these two teams last season. In fact, last season after their three matchups were done at the start of February, the Wild were the second best team in the league going 33-12-0. A quarter of their losses came against the Flames.

They also had a good road-win% last season.

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Via Minnesota Wild:

This weekend’s contests against the Jets and Flames end a stretch where five of the Wild’s first six games of the season are on the road. After the current two-game road trip, Minnesota will return to St. Paul for its longest homestand of the season: six home games spanning 12 days, beginning Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks.Last season, the Wild posted a 22-13-6 record on the road, ranking second in the Western Conference (Chicago) and tying for fifth in the NHL for most points in away games.

All that being said, we still don’t know too much how this game will shape up. Let’s look at three things to watch on the Wild.

Keep in mind, these aren’t all necessarily intimidating things that the Flames need to watch out for. But also things that they could use to their advantage. That being said, let’s get on with it.

Powerplay

The Wild’s powerplay is the top in the league with 33.3%. They’re 5 for 15 on the PP this year and they’ve scored at least one powerplay play goal in their last four games. If the Calgary Flames want to keep their goals-against at bay, they absolutely need to find a way to stay out of the penalty box tonight.

Calgary Flames

Via Minnesota Wild:

The Wild has scored at least one power-play goal in four straight games — its longest streak since tallying at least one power-play goal in five straight games, Dec. 31, 2016-Jan. 12, 2017. Minnesota is 5-for-15 on the power play this season, tying for first in the NHL with a 33.3 percent success rate.Last season, the Wild set a franchise record for highest power-play percentage in a single season (21 percent) and finished ninth in the League (47-for-94).

However, this will be against the Flames penalty-killing team, who rank fourth in the league at 88.6%. In their like, million times that they’ve been shorthanded, they’ve allowed just four powerplay goals. That’s quite impressive for a team who has been shorthanded 35 times (ok not quite a million, but I wasn’t far off).

A strong powerplay team against a strong penalty-killing team will be fun to watch.

Penalty Kill

But now let’s look on the other side of the special teams. While the Wild are first in the league for their PP, they’re also second last in the league on their penalty kill at 71.4%. They’ve allowed six powerplay goals against on 21 times shorthanded, and all those PP goals against have also come on the road. The Wild are tied for last on their road PK%, allowing six PP goals against on 18 times shorthanded.

The Calgary Flames right now are 15th in the league on the powerplay at 19.2%. They’ve scored five powerplay goals on 26 PP opportunities. Also, in every game that the Flames have won, they’ve scored a powerplay goal.

So let’s all cross our fingers that the Flames score a powerplay goal early on and that may be a good indicator of the game result.

Players to watch

Chris Stewart

Chris Stewart is currently leading the Wild in goals (5) and points (7). He has at least one point in all five Wild games to start the season. He had a goal in the game against the Winnipeg Jets last night and had a two-goal game in their lone win this season against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Last season, Stewart had just one goal in three losses to the Flames, but he also had 20 shots on goal. He had a CF% of slightly less than 50% last season against the Flames with 22 even-strength shot attempts and 26 shot-attempts against. However the team had a slightly above 50% average of even-strength scoring chances with Stewart on the ice.

But with how Stewart’s season’s been going, he’ll be a dangerous player tonight. Last season, he had just 13 goals and 21 points in 79 games. He’s almost halfway there already and it’s only been five games.

Jason Zucker

Jason Zucker is second on the team in points with six. Last season, he had one goal and one assist in three losses to the Calgary Flames. He also finished last season off with an impressive +34. Right now, he sits at an even 0, but in four losses, I’d say that’s decent.

In five games, Zucker has three multi-point games. In the other two, he doesn’t have any points. Despite three losses against the Flames last season, the Wild still did quite well with Zucker on the ice. He had a CF% of 62.7% and had an even-scoring chance % of 69.6%.

The Flames need to limit the amount of chances he gets tonight because he could take off.

Alex Stalock

Since Devan Dubnyk played last night in the loss to the Winnipeg Jets, Alex Stalock may get the nod. Which is probably for the better since Dubnyk hasn’t quite been his Devan Dubnyk self, not like he was last season. Stalock played in just one game this season that resulted in an overtime loss where he let in four goals on 42 shots. Stalock’s been in the NHL for a few years now, but doesn’t play a whole lot.

In his career, he’s 25-20-8 and has a SV% of 0.912. He’s only had one win in his career against the Calgary Flames and that was in the 2013-14 season. If the Flames can get good chances early on and somewhat shake Stalock up a bit, they may be able to beat him.

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And that’s all in what to watch for against the Wild tonight! If you were a betting man (or woman), who’d you put your money on tonight?