Game Preview: Flames vs Philadelphia Flyers

CALGARY FLAMES (28-23-10 66 points) vs. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (33-20-7 73 points) GAME 62

PREVIEW:

Inconsistency is the featured word heading into tonight’s clash between the Flames and the Philadelphia Flyers. This is the first and only meeting between the clubs this season as in the past two years; each team has one win against each other (10/11- Flames 3-2 SO, 09/10- Flyers- 3-0). Dating back almost a decade shows that Dome ice has been good for the Flyers winning 3 straight since March 2001. Both teams have battled inconsistency this season, causing respective coaches and front office staff to pull the hair out of their head at moments and wonder if their team is a legitimate playoff team.

The Flames are coming off two lackluster performances Tuesday and Thursday night which led to GM Jay Feaster to publicly question the Flames will and desire to make the playoffs and put into question the Flames as a possible seller come Monday. The Flames blew a 2-0 lead to the 7^th place Coyotes Thursday night but managed to get a single point. The Flames have played extra time in 5 of their last 9 games and now sit in a three-way tie for 9^th spot with the Avalanche and the Kings with 66 points.

Inconsistency has hampered the Flyers this season as their past ten games have been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. Win one game, lose three, win another, loose another… Lots of the blame can be put on the shoulders of the Flyers goaltending (will it ever be solved?) as Ilya Bryzgalov has been nothing short of a disappointment in his first season in Philadelphia. His 2.80 GAA ranks 33^rd in the league while his .899 save percentage ranks 43^rd which is simply unacceptable when you are making an average of 5+ million dollars a season. The Flyers have been busy this past week, shoring up their blue-line with the additions of Nicklas Grossman and Pavel Kubina. Kubina and Grossman will be looked upon to help fill the gigantic hole left by Chris Pronger and more importantly help the Flyers struggling goaltending in any way they can.  Up front the Flyers haven’t had many issues. Led by rising star Claude Giroux, the Flyers haven’t had very many problems putting the puck in the net, leading the league while averaging 3.28 goals per game.

The head scratching around the city of Calgary is becoming faster and more aggressive as many wonder where the Flames sit heading into Monday’s trade deadline. Even though Feaster backed off a bit with his comments on Friday (I don’t get why), I give him a lot of credit for not holding back during his second intermission interview with Roger Millions on Thursday night. Finally someone grew a set and told it how it is when it comes to the Calgary Flames.

How much longer do we put up with this inconsistency? How many more chances do we give this team? Are we happy with just 8^th place? If we make the playoffs, do we really have a chance of beating the likes of Vancouver or Detroit? These are just some of the questions the Flames will be asking themselves before Monday’s deadline and I my mind the answers should be, it ends today, 0, no and no. I have said it for a long time and will say it again, the Flames aren’t a hockey team that can compete in the playoffs, even if you go with the old slogan of ‘just get in and you have a shot’. I have been a Flames fan all my whole life and to me, just getting in isn’t good enough. I think this city and its fans deserve more and Feaster has the cards in his hands to make some moves on Monday that could help lead the Flames to becoming elite. It isn’t going to happen overnight but it is about time the Flames use, in Feaster’s words, intellectual honesty.

PROJECTED LINES:

Flames:                                                                        Flyers:

1-GLENCROSS-JOKINEN-IGINLA                             1-HARTNELL-GIROUX-VORACEK

2-TANGUAY-CAMMALLERI-COMEAU                       2-BRIERE-READ-JAGR

3-DESBIENS -HORAK-JACKMAN                              3-van RIEMSDYK-SCHENN-SIMMONDS

4-KOSTOPOULOS-STAJAN-BOUMA                        4-WELLWOOD-TALBOT-SHELLEY

1-BOUWMEESTER-SMITH                                         1-TIMONEN-COBURN

2-GIORDANO-HANNAN                                              2-CARLE-KUBINA

3-BRODIE-SARICH                                                     3-MESZAROS-GROSSMAN

1-KIPRUSOFF                                                              1-BRYZGALOV

2-KARLSSON                                                               2-BOBROVSKY

EXTRA- BABCHUK, KOLANOS                                     EXTRA- RINALDO, LILJA

INJURIES:

Flames: D- Chris Butler (Lower Body- 3 weeks), C- Mikael Backlund (Upper Body- IR), C- Blair Jones (Ankle- IR), RW- Lee Stempniak (Ankle- IR), C- David Moss (Lower Body- IR)

Flyers: C Sean Couturier (Lower Body- Day-to-Day), D Chris Pronger (Concussion- IR), LW Tom Sestito (Groin- IR), C Blair Betts (Lower Body- IR)

STATS:

Flames

Flyers

PP-

Flames: 17.1% (15^th)

Flyers: 19.9% (5^th)

PK-

Flames: 83.5% (9^th)

Flyers: 80.8% (21^st)

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS:

DID YOU KNOW?

• Last ten games: Flames 5-1-4, Flyers 3-6-1
• The Flames are 4-10 in extra time this season
• Olli Jokinen’s typing-PPG on Thursday was the Flames first PP goal in six games and 15 attempts.
• The Flames have had a good month of February, securing 14 of a possible 20 points (5-1-2-2). Will it be enough to squeeze into the playoffs?
• The Flames PK on Dome ice has been very good this season ranking them 5^th in the league at 86.4%
• The Flames are 14-4-10 in one goal games this season.
• The Flyers are 17-3-7 in one goal games this season
• The Flyers have been good at bouncing back after a loss this season with a 18-6-2 record.
• The Flyers have been busy lately, acquiring defensemen Nicklas Grossman and Pavel Kubina. Grossman came from Dallas for a 2nd and 3rd round pick, while Kubina came from Tampa Bay in exchange for Jon Kalinski and a 2nd and 4th round draft pick.
• Since scoring a hat-trick on Jan. 7^th, Flyers forward Danny Briere has gone 15 games without a goal, managing only 6 assists during the stretch.  
• Claude Giroux has been hot of late with 8 points (1g, 7a) in his last 4 games.
• Jaromir Jagr scored his 16^th career overtime goal on Feb. 21 against the Jets. The 16 markers is a new NHL record.
• Flyers assistant coaches Craig Berube and Joey Mullen and goaltending coach, Jeff Reese all played for the Flames in their careers.         

GAME DAY QUOTE:

"I can't tell that the team in red tonight is the team that needs the two points. It seems to me that the team that's safely in seventh place is the team that's working harder… Last year with the run that we made after the end of December I felt the team earned the opportunity to stay together and obviously we fell short. And so last year you fooled me and shame on you. This year, if you're going to fool me, shame on me. So if we don't show a whole lot more urgency heading into Monday you guys will be busy as it relates to the goings on in Calgary."

– Flames GM Jay Feaster during the 2^nd Intermission on Thursday

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