Calgary Flames Daily: Important game, Mike Smith going to ASG

The Calgary Flames have an important two days with back-to-backs vs. Pacific Division teams. Mike Smith will also be going to the All-Star game this weekend.

I feel like I say this multiple times a week, but one of the most important games for the Calgary Flames to date will happen tonight. They’ll be playing the LA Kings tonight and these two teams are basically neck in neck.

The Flames are just one point ahead of the Kings with one game on hand. A win in regulation tonight will keep them in a more secure spot in the third Pacific Division spot. Especially with the way the Kings have been falling lately. This will be the third meeting between the two teams with the Flames winning the first two meetings.

The Flames will also be playing the Edmonton Oilers tomorrow night. They haven’t beaten the Oilers since last season, so this will be a challenge. With Mike Smith starting tonight vs. the Kings, we can expect David Rittich to start tomorrow night.

Speaking of Mike Smith, it has just been announced that Jonathan Quick has opted out of the All-Star game and Mike Smith will take his spot. He’ll be joining teammate Johnny Gaudreau at the ASG.

We all remember his exciting five-hole shot from across the ice last year at ASG.

A challenge for the Calgary Flames has been playing on home ice (for some weird reason). They’re only 12-12-2 at home so far and have been struggling at the ‘Dome.

Via Calgary Sun:

“Obviously, hovering around the .500 mark at home is not where you want to be,” said Flames forward Curtis Lazar. “The top teams … I mean, look at Vegas, they just don’t lose at home.“For us, we’ve sat and we’ve talked about, ‘Why do we play differently on the road than we do at home?’ You can point to a lot of things but, at the end of the day, I think it just comes down to execution. I think we need to have that swagger here. We have to find ways to engage our fans early in the game and just make this a hard place to play.”

A big two points are up for grabs tonight for both teams. Let’s hope the Flames can try and secure their playoff spot and extend their point streak tonight.

Flames Tweet of the day

Hockey Tweet of the day

Some links surrounding the Flames

Flames realize mediocre home record must improve (Calgary Sun).

Flames look to heat up at home (Calgary Herald).

Game Day: Five things to know as the Flames take on the Kings (Ottawa Citizen).

Positive Thinking (Calgary Flames).

Some links surrounding hockey and the NHL

Hartford Whalers vanity plates? Yes, and they rock (FanSided).

Today’s hockey players are big, fast, and heavily armoured – but they weren’t always (CBC Sports).

Analyzing why it’s so important for NHL teams to have two reliable goalies (Sportsnet).

Next: Trade rumours - Erik Karlsson coming west?

That’s all in today’s Flames Daily!