The Flames face a significantly stiffer test than the limping Nashville Predators tonight. The Red Wings have won 6 in a row and own one of the most potent trios in the league led by current top-dog Henrik Zetterberg*.
*(how lucky** do I feel that I snagged both Crosby AND Henry in my Flames blogger pool?)
**(by lucky I mean, of course, brilliant.)
It'll be interesting to see what strategy Keenan favors this evening. The Flames don't really have a shut-down line, so Im guessing he'll try the power vs. power thing that worked oh so poorly back at the Joe earlier in the season. Of course, that was when guys like Iginla, Tanguay and Aucoin were playing like they were hung over.
The real question may be - what defensive duo gets the Zetterberg match-up? Regehr-Sarich makes sense, although they've been somewhat less effective than the Aucoin-Phaneuf pair (who, not incidentally, play a lot with the Iginla forward unit). According to the new Behind the Net stats, Phaneuf has been absolutely stellar at suppressing opposition scoring (0.93 GA/60***) with Aucoin not too far behind (1.37 GA/60) while Sarich and Regehr haven't fared nearly as well (2.36 and 2.97 GA/60 respectively). So does Phaneuf roll against the big boys tonight? If so, it'll be worth noting how he fares.
Overall, it may not matter as long as Warrener and Eriksson**** are kept far, far away from the Red Wing's big guns.
***(these stats don't include the most recent game against Nashville. The current GA/60 rates are likely lower than those listed since the Preds didn't score any ES goals last game.)
****(He really sucks ass.)
The Wings certainly seem to be the class of the West so far, but they aren't invulnerable. The Flames have traditionally played well against Detroit in Calgary (won 4 out of 5 contests in the Dome last year), not to mention the fact that the Wings only beat the woeful Oilers by the narrowest of margins a few days ago. Zetterberg et al. didn't beat up on Grebeshkov and Gilbert at ES, so there's definitely hope (again, as long as Eriksson and Godard are restricted to brief shifts against Aaron Downey all night). In addition, Hasek is out and Kiprusoff is past his now annual 12 game warm-up period. Osgood's stats are decent so far, but he's still a long bet to out-duel Kipprusoff - especially since the Flames suddenly own the most potent offense in the Western Conference.
Prediction - Flames 3, Wings 2. Iginla, Langkow and Huselius for Calgary. Holmstrom***** and Datsyuk for Detroit.
*****(On the PP of course).
