Calgary Flames Daily: Game day, facing the top team

It’s game day! The Calgary Flames are in nice and sunny Tampa Bay as we’re all miserable in -30°C weather. Let’s check out some Flames news.

Yesterday, Sam Bennett posted in his Instagram story of them in sunny Florida where it was 24°C while it’s like -33°C here right now. So I’m angry at them and I hope they lose tonight (just kidding). But the Calgary Flames will be playing the tough Tampa Bay Lightning tonight.

The Bolts currently lead the standings with 65 points in 43 games. The Flames have 48 points in 42 games and are quite close to making their way back into a playoff spot. The Western Conference is so close right now, it’s changing multiple times a day.

The Flames will have to try and do their best to hold them off from getting lots of chances. They’ve scored the most amount of goals in the league with 158 and have the highest GF/GP with 3.67. They’re also the fourth highest amount of scoring chances (5v5) with 1063 and have the highest amount of SCGF with 89. Meaning that their scoring chances actually result in goals. But the Flames are also one of the best road teams in the NHL this season.

Via Calgary Flames:

“We’re know we’re in for a battle,” said centre Mark Jankowski. “They’re a very good team, obviously. But we’re a good team, too. We have to come out with the right mentality, with a good start, a good hard first 10 minutes.“Anytime, home or away, but especially on the road you want to get on them early. That can set the tone for the game.”“The thing that sticks out is that they are a team that can score,” said captain Mark Giordano. “They can really put the puck in the net. We don’t want to play a run-and-gun game with this team. We have to play with our structure and be solid defensively.”“We feel on the road we simplify our game,” he continued. “We can grind it out so that’s how we have to play.”

Something that’s still plaguing the Flames is their powerplay. They went 0/4 on the PP vs. the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday evening and that game required overtime. WIth an extra goal on their PP, they could have prevented the Wild from getting that extra point. A team that they’re still battling within the Western Conference.

Every point matters right now, especially against teams in the same conference.

Flames Tweet of the Day

Hockey Tweet of the Day (we’ve got two today)

i would like to personally congratulate the nhl for finding it within themselves to only send one chicago blackhawk to the all star game
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) January 10, 2018

The @GoldenKnights have responded to Army's trademark lawsuit. → https://t.co/mUr7TxhAYL pic.twitter.com/OgGiX6mkWd
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) January 11, 2018

Some links surrounding the Flames

Burke says Flames ‘would do the Jagr experiment again’ (Sportsnet).

Flames’ Gaudreau off to NHL All-Star Weekend (Calgary Sun).

GameDay: Flames at Lightning (Calgary Sun).

Some links around FanSided surrounding hockey

After the Chicago Blackhawks acquired Anthony Duclair for Richard Panik yesterday, Colin Likas of Blackhawk Up gives us five thoughts on the trade.

With the World Juniors over, David Joun of The Canuck Way gives a report card on the Canucks prospects at the tournament.

James Van Riemsdyk is set to become a UFA on July 1st, Josh Tessler of Editor in Leaf speculates whether the Leafs will be able to afford to extend him.