Game Preview: Flames vs San Jose Sharks

CALGARY FLAMES (32-25-12 76 points) vs. SAN JOSE SHARKS (34-25-9 77 points) GAME 70

PREVIEW:

Some of the Flames best play has come against the Sharks this season and they will look to continue that as they host the Sharks in the fourth and final meeting of the season. The Sharks hold a 2-1 series lead but every game has been decided by one goal with two games needing extra time. The Flames have had a great month of March so far with a 4-1-1 record and even with all the injuries up front, have found their groove offensively, averaging 4.5 goals per game this month. The Sharks on the other hand recorded their first victory in 6 games last night, defeating the Oilers in Edmonton, 3-2. The Flames have done a good job this month taking advantage of struggling teams as they hope to catch the Sharks on the wrong foot tonight.

Consistency has been the Flames biggest issue all season and it almost cost them in Sunday’s match-up against the Wild. After Sven Baertschi scored his first career NHL goal to put the Flames up 2-0 early in the third, the Flames sat back and watched the Wild tie the game in just over two minutes. The Flames did show some resiliency and pulled off the victory but these patches where they fall asleep and blow leads has to get out of their game if they do in fact want to make the playoffs and want any chance pulling off a major upset in round one. On the injury front, Blake Comeau skated this morning and will be a game-time decision.

The Sharks finally got themselves back in the win column last night but have been on a downward spiral ever since the all-star break with a 7-11-3 record. With all the star power the Sharks have up front, goal scoring has been San Jose’s biggest concern. The Sharks have scored three or fewer goals in each of their last 13 games and haven’t scored more than three since Feb. 16^th. Before last night’s game in Edmonton, where they went 2 for 2 on the PP, the Sharks had also gone 0 for 13 in their previous 13 contests. The Sharks are hoping last night’s victory turns things around as captain Joe Thornton has started to heat up, scoring five points in his last three games.

Anyone who would have guessed the Sharks would be sitting in 9^th spot at this point of the season deserves some big time credit. Goal scoring hasn’t been the only concern for the Sharks lately, as Antti Niemi has been very streaky and inconsistent this season. If the Flames want some success against the Sharks and get back in that 8^th and final playoff spot, stats say getting on them early is the key. When falling behind 1-0, the Sharks are a messily 11-20-7 while the Flames are 23-9-5 when scoring the first tally. Getting Comeau back to the line-up tonight could be a huge plus but never the less; the Flames top players have to continue to be the Flames top players. Curtis Glencross increased his goal-scoring streak to league high 7 straight games in Sunday’s game, while Jarome Iginla now has goals in four straight and Alex Tanguay is riding a six-game point streak (2-8-10). It should be another playoff type atmosphere in the Dome tonight as the Sharks sit in 9^th in the West, 1 point out while the Flames sit 10^th, 2 point out of the final playoff spot. Usually after a streak like the Flames have been on (4-1-1 this month), this is the time they take a step backwards, let’s hope they have finally put that behind them. Fingers are crossed.

PROJECTED LINES:

Flames:                                                                        Sharks:

1-TANGUAY-STAJAN-IGINLA                                      1-COUTURE-THORNTON-PAVELSKI

2-GLENCROSS-JOKINEN-MOSS                               2-WINNIK-MARLEAU-CLOWE

3-KOSTOPOULOS-NEMISZ-BAERTSCHI                   3-MITCHELL-MOORE-WINGELS

4-KOLANOS-HORAK-DESBIENS                                4-GALIARDI-DESJARDINS-FERRIERO

1-BOUWMEESTER-SMITH                                         1-BOYLE-VLASIC

2-GIORDANO-HANNAN                                               2-BURNS-MURRAY

3-BABCHUK-SARICH                                                  3-DEMERS-BRAUN

1-KIPRUSOFF                                                              1-NIEMI

2-KARLSSON                                                               2-GREISS

EXTRA- COMEAU                                                        EXTRA- HANDZUS, VANDERMEER, WHITE

INJURIES:

Flames: D- T.J Brodie (Upper Body- Day-to-Day), RW- Tim Jackman (Undisclosed- Day-to-Day), C- Mike Cammalleri (Upper Body- Day-to-Day), LW Lance Bouma (Upper Body- Day-to-Day), D- Chris Butler (Lower Body- IR), C- Mikael Backlund (Upper Body- IR), C- Blair Jones (Ankle- IR), RW- Lee Stempniak (Ankle- IR)

Sharks: RW- Martin Havlat (Lower Body- IR), LW- James Sheppard (Knee- IR)

STATS:

Flames

Sharks

PP-

Flames: 18.2% (11^th)

Sharks: 20.7% (3^rd)

PK-

Flames: 82.9% (11^th)

Sharks: 78.1% (28^th)

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS:

DID YOU KNOW?

• Last ten games: Flames 4-3-3, Sharks 3-5-2
• Curtis Glencross, who increased his goal scoring streak to 7 games on Sunday, is just one game away from tying the Flames record of 8 straight games with a goal held by Gary Roberts and Kent Nilsson.
•  The Flames have scored the opening goal in 11 straight games.
• Matt Stajan has taken full advantage of Coach Sutter’s promotion to the Flames #1 line. Stajan is currently on a three-game point streak.
• The Flames (69 games) and Sharks (68 games) both have games in hand on the 8^th seeded Colorado Avalanche (71 games).
• The Sharks had lost 11 of their last 13 games before last night’s victory in Edmonton.
• The Sharks will conclude a 4-game road trip tonight. The road hasn’t been a good place for the Sharks either recently with only 3 wins in their past 11 contests.
• The Sharks have won eight of the last 12 meetings against the Flames including four of the past six in Calgary.

GAME DAY QUOTE:

"I'm feeling good… It's my second skate with the full team, doing some battle drills and stuff like that. Trying to get it strong. I feel good (but) the end decision is with Brent. I'm going to prepare like I'm in tonight.”

– Flames forward Blake Comeau who will be a game-time decision tonight

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