This evening we get to see if Baby Jesus REALLY favors the Flames. The boys can tie a NHL record of 6 consecutive road victories (in one trip) by beating the BJs in Columbus.
The outcome will likely depend on whether the Juice-Langkow-Iggy line can continue to play like Gods amongst lobotomized chimps. Kipper is still "meh" and the defensive coverage, outside of Cory Sarich and the apparently not-so-lame Robyn Regehr, leaves much to be desired. Also, as mentioned before (and likely to be mentioned again)...no one else is scoring.
On the latter front, there may be some temporary hope: Owen Nolan is out with some mysterious ailment tonight, and Dustin Boyd is to take his place on the 2nd line with Tanguay and Conroy. Which is encouraging. Now if we could only discern and neutralize the source of Conroy's abominable power over Keenan and the coaching staff...perhaps Lombardi could be nudged up into the top 6 in his stead. Oh well. Small steps.
Columbus has been average recently, winning roughly as much as they lose. They began the season on a roll, thanks in no small part to Pascal Leclaire's heroics, but have returned back to Earth since. Not that this will be an easy match by any means: Hitchcock has the BJ's playing tight, Boa Constrictor defense. Not to mention, this is the Flames 6th game on a long and brutal road trip.
It's impossible to complain about 10 out of 12 points away from home. So I won't. A win (or even tie) tonight would be the cherry on top of a gold encrusted, stripper filled, "Congratulations on Winning the Lottery You Virile Bachelor of the Year!" cake.
Go Flames.
